Ori's Note:
Before you read this fic, you should probably read "Hidden Behind the Computer." This is a, ah, pre-mid-se-quel-ish-y-play-within-a-fic-like-THINGY to HBtC, I guess (You'll see what I mean when you start reading...If not, well, I obviously tried and failed miserably! What else is new?). I'll explain more in the notes at the end but the idea behind this is a long story. And, yes, the italics are intentional.
Just trust me on this one, it's a very different format from my usual fics but, well, I felt like I had to do this one, especially with how Taiki and I kept joking about what led up to me finally writing the damn thing! And if I had to write this I had to make it special, too. Especially since...Well, you'll see why at the end.
This is a very special fan fic for a very special person, a person very dear to us all, especially me...
...TWERP-CHAN SAID YES! *Sniff* Taiki, you're the best closet case editor I could have ever hoped for! Thank you!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Ori, while I am incredibly proud of the fact gay marriage is now legal across the entire country the answer is and forever shall be "Despite whatever evidence to the contrary you come up with, I am straight and you're BEYOND insane." Sorry. But as Ori said you will understand why we chose to upload this fic in particular at the end. -Taiki Matsuki]
Also, a translation note since I tend to use the Japanese version's names for Digimon: Hangyoumon are "Divermon" (The humanoid frog-like Digimon with scuba gear) in the English dub. Remember this! It's important. Also, regarding movie 6 (Tamers – Runaway Locomon) this movie isn't exactly in continuity with Tamers: It was written without consulting the original staff and Chiaki Konaka so it kinda conflicts the original Tamers ending. I sorta play on this with this fic...Even though it's 02 but—You'll see! You'll see!
...Gods, I think my new RA meds are REALLY messing with my brain right now. Zhuge Liang, HELP ME! PLEASE! I'll buy you a new feather fan...!
Oh, and yes, this is an Adventure 02 fic! Do not let the italics fool you and, trust me, they will try to. Do NOT trust the italics! No matter what!
Trust no-one...
...Who writes in full italics.
Finally, Lopmon's gender: In the original version, while Digimon are officially genderless, when Xiaochun teaches Lopmon Non-Archaic Japanese (think the Japanese extent of Shakespearean English) she has him refer to himself with masculine pronouns. The dub went with feminine pronouns, possibly due to the fact the "Lopmon learns modern day Japanese" episodes aired after the dub had already picked a gender. I'm not 100% sure.
Finally, the reason why there aren't any end-fic notes until the final chapter is because thsi was originally one massive fic. Then we realized the word count was a helluva lot higher than we first thought so Taiki suggested splitting it up and uploading it all.
Anyway, enjoy!
-Ori\Zi Jian
EDITOR'S NOTE: I just want to note that with the heavy use of italics and the problems we've had with formatted italics this fic may contain a few errors in the form of line breaks or italics missing in places they should. I did my best to fix all of the errors but some continued to pop up in the document editor even after being corrected. Apologies if this makes for any hard to read parts of the fic, I honestly did the best I could. Please, try to enjoy! -Taiki "WHY DO ITALICS HATE ME?" Matsuki
Heart Shaped Goggles
By Jenshirou Izuda
The battle against D-Reaper, they all thought it had cost them their partners for so long. It was over a year before Yamaki got them back using the gate Takato had found. It took a lot of work, so much of Hypnos' resources and almost cost him his position as head of Hypnos, but Yamaki-san brought them back. After all they did for the city and against D-Reaper? Yamaki didn't care what the higher ups in the government said: The Shinjuku District needed The Digimon Tamers. All of Japan needed them...
...And they were proud to be back, especially as the threat of Apocalymon and Demon loomed over both the Real and Digital World. The chaos and destruction brought by D-Reaper allowed them to move in and seize power from Baihumon, they were also responsible for the reemergence of Wild Ones. Or as some of the Tamers, namely Hirokazu Shiota, called them the WILDER Ones, which is what gave Yamaki the extra motivation to bring back the Tamers' partners. Though, Yamaki had not expected the new Wild Ones to be even more dangerous than the ones that appeared before due to Demon's corruption: As shown through various police reports, news outlets and one particular incident that left Yamaki at the receiving end of Jenrya Li, Ruki Makino and, according to some rumors around the Hypnos staff, even Juri Katou's fury. An incident that could have cost the Tamers their designated leader, Takato Matsuda, if not for his cousin Kai Urazoe's help: These "corrupted" Wild Ones had little to no qualms with attacking, injuring or killing humans, the Tamers were in more danger than ever but they all stepped up to the call without hesitation. Or, in the case of some, without approval from Hypnos. Not that it would stop them.
Hypnos formed a "Digimon Taming Squad," consisting of the six original Tamers (sans Shiuchon Li) and Juri Katou. Hypnos was now dedicated to the research of the Digital World and it's relationship to Earth, as wel as the protection of it and Earth from rogue Digimon with the Digimon Tamers.
Though, a new group of Tamers arose now that Digimon were appearing once more, Kai Urazoe being their leader much like his cousin led the "Hypnos sanctioned" Digimon Tamers. Upon receiving his partner, a Seadramon, he came to Shinjuku to assist his cousin, Takato, and eventually form a Non-Hypnos affiliated group that acted much Takato and the other Tamers before they left for the Digital World the first time and aided them whenever possible, much to Yamaki's annoyance. Though he realized their usefulness after a rather close call. Yamaki-san had become less and less vocal about Kai Urazoe's "rogue" Tamers.
But, before their return, it all seemed hopeless. Takato, especially, was torn up by the loss of Guilmon. Jenrya, of course, believed that this might one day happen, though what he had thought was "goodbye forever" to Terriermon still hurt more than he ever expected it to should that day come. His little sister, Shiuchon, also took things hard. She not only lost her favorite "stuffed toy" but, once she learned his secret and (somehow) found herself in the Digital World with a partner of her own, lost her new best friend: Lopmon. Or, during one of the few "play times" she, Terriermon and Lopmon had together, "Big Brother Lopmon" to "Baby Terriermon." Terriermon's protests went unheard by Jenrya for almost an hour, but his Tamer eventually came to the rescue, though Jenrya's words of "Better late than never" were lost on the diapered, bonneted and very annoyed digimon. Terriermon missed Jenrya and, to a slightly lesser extent, Shiuchon: He even allowed Shiuchon to "play house" with him and Lopmon upon their return, saying that even he missed "playtime" to some small degree...
...Thankfully, by then, Shiuchon had matured past being "Mommy" to "baby Terriermon" and "big brother Lopmon." Much to Terriermon's joy when their "playtime" was a simple tea party (with lots of sugar in his tea, Lopmon opted for no sweeteners, to which Terriermon enthusiastically proclaimed "More for me~!"). Even Jenrya joined in for "old time's sake," which made his little sister happy...As well as his elder brother in the sense he thought the scene of Jenrya sipping tea from a bright pink plastic cup with his little sister, two Digimon and the company of half a dozen stuffed toys to be absolutely hysterical!
Still, after their partners' return to The Digital World, Jenrya found himself consoling Takato more than anyone else during that year. Takato, as Jenrya found out from Hirokazu and Kenta, never even owned a pet. Not even a goldfish, let alone a real Digimon like Guilmon, a partner he created, a partner that was so much more than a "pet," a partner that was his best Digital Friend. His treasured friend.
Jenrya also had a treasured friend in Terriermon but, slowly, he came to wonder...
...Does that "treasured friend" exist in Takato as well? Jenrya often wondered if it might be a little more than that, especially as he and Takato were spending more time together at the Hypnos labs when "on call," when Wild One appearances peaked. They shared one of the living quarters Yamaki-san had set up at Hypnos as did Ruki and Juri, then Hirokazu and Kenta with their own rooms respectively, Ryou Akiyama was the only Tamer without a roommate and that was due to his tendency to stay in The Digital World with Hypnos research staff: Ruki often joined him when needed to fight Apocalymon – Sakuyamon and Justimon made for a formidable duo of fighters. Despite Ruki's contempt for "Akiyama," even she would scornfully agree that they made a very good team...If "Akiyama" wasn't there to hear it.
During that "on call" period, they were sent off to fight any Digimon at any time. All of them hated the ones that realized at midnight to two-thirty, those tended to be on the receiving end of some of their frustrations, Ruki's in particular: A rogue Gekomon learned the hard way that Ruki Makino is not a morning person, especially at any time between 12:01 AM and 7:59 AM. Yamaki-san was stunned as he read her report of the mission: Renamon ended up on "the sidelines" for that particular Wild One incident, Ruki wanted to express her vexation personally...
When "on call," Jenrya got a break from Shiuchon's antics (or Rinchei's and his new "best friend" that Jenrya was not amused by in the least), Takato got a break from the bakery where Kai took over his regular chores to thank his Uncle and Aunt for letting him stay with them. Takato often missed the bakery, he would often call to check in on things or ask if he could bring bread over to Hypnos for his friends (a request that was always happily granted, Kai especially liked to make the deliveries as it allowed him access to Hypnos' "Digimon Tamers Control Center."). Jenrya found himself doing the same with his own family but not as often due to his father now being a part of Hypnos as the second-in-command of the Hypnos Digital World Study And Defense Laboratory (the official name of the organization to the public). Janyuu Li was the designated commander of the Wild One Monitoring system and Control Room for the Tamers, often working in the field with his son or the other Tamers.
Jenrya would think about this "Takato situation" off and on but, in the back of his mind he knew: Even if he was "like that," something he had begun to deny to himself less and less over time, Takato surely wasn't "of that persuasion." It was a hopeless endeavor, regardless. Takato had feelings for Juri Katou, he was so sure of it it. Everyone was, even Ai and Makoto were aware of it and they only spent time hanging out with Shiuchon – Often helping "inspire her" when it came to the pranks she would pull on Jenrya (and to a lesser extent: Her own Father) until he agreed to speak to Yamaki about letting her join the others in Hypnos, something Jenrya adamantly refused to even consider due to the danger. No matter what she did. From stealing his lunch and replacing it with stuff he won't like (and, once, assorted office supplies. which included a stapler placed between two slices of bread) to signing him up on advertisers' mailing lists online to hiding his wallet to erasing his video game saves to password protecting his screen saver when he was gone to making sure his bath water was ice cold, his answer was still a firm "NOT IN A MILLION YEARS! NEVER!" From a thoroughly annoyed Jenrya, Shiuchon knew exactly how to provoke him, a dangerous game she was very good at playing. A dangerous game that her eldest brother was more than willing to help coach her for. Jenrya quickly realized his youngest and eldest sibling were a dangerous combination, a very dangerous combination, especially for his mental health.
Actually, on the subject of the Li family, Hypnos and one Kai Urazoe: The Digimon Tamers were slightly divided since their partners' return. Although Impmon was capable of evolving freely, his Tamers (Ai and Makoto) were kept as far away from the "front lines" a possible by Hypnos and Yamaki. Shiuchon got similar treatment, despite her insisting she could help, Jenrya forbid it as did his father and Yamaki, though their elder brother, Rinchei, was "all for" the idea, saying that he'd watch out for her, thankfully for Jenrya's nerves: Janyuu still forbade it, though, unfortunately for their nerves, Rinchei and Shiuchon were not ones to necessarily follow the rules. Unlike Shiuchon and Rinchei, Jenrya knew full well the risks involved in Digimon Taming. Especially after "the incident" that left him absolutely terrified of possibly losing his "treasured best friend," Takato. One he was horrified to even remember, one that led to him screaming at Yamaki-san for almost a full hour without letting the department head get so much as a word in...He had never been so angry, terrified and, to one Kai Urazoe, thankful in his entire life.
The dangers were especially apparent now, he'd found himself having to fight against one or two rookie to champion level Digimon that snuck up on him and got past his partner in a fight using the martial arts he'd been practicing for so long. Much like the time with that one Hangyoumon in the Digital World – Though Hangyoumon were now a terrifying memory for him and, especially, Takato. Takato, thankfully, was safe in the end but it was obvious the incident left a lasting impression of the Tamers' leader, as much as he tried to hide it.
Jenrya had never been more thankful for those years of Tai Chi lessons than that time he barely managed to disarm and subdue a Goblimon, turning its own club against it before Terriermon could finally reach him to assist in the fight. Ruki had also been in similar situations but, thankfully, none had yet to be injured and only received a good scare and rush of adrenaline. Ruki may not have had formal training in martial arts, she wore steel toed sneakers for a reason.
The Hypnos "squad" had been a small rift in the Li family, actually, Shiuchon wanted to help while Jenrya and his parents forbid it, though Jenrya's mother wasn't exactly on board with the idea of either of them joining Hypnos but she knew her son was capable of doing what Hypnos asked of him after seeing him take on D-Reaper. But the days Jenrya would suddenly leave to perform his "duty" and be gone for extended periods of time were met with a tight, extended embrace from his Mother upon his return: All of the Tamers had similar returns with one or more family members. Lopmon, at least, was able to assist in a way similar to Impmon, Shiuchon could view what Lopmon saw in all evolved forms via her D-Arc, as she had done during D-Reaper's invasion (the fact she had to do this at Hypnos HQ did make her happy, Jenrya, Janyuu and Yamaki humored her by acting as if she was more of a help than she really was – It helped ease the family tension somewhat). Lopmon was also Hypnos' representative to Zhuqiaomon and the remaining three Digital Gods still in power: Baihumon was in the midst of a war to regain the Western portion of The Digital World.
Kai Urazoe was also a part of this rift in the Li family, mostly through the fact that Rinchei was a supporter (and member) of Kai's "unaffiliated" group of Tamers. Jenrya did his best to ignore Rinchei, however, especially as he supported Shiuchon's request to help out more with Jenrya often saying, "I'll join up with you guys instead and fight alongside my brother and sister, she'll be fine on my watch!" But his offer fell of deaf ears, so he'd been with Kai and, often, showing up uninvited to Hypnos' missions or headquarters, he was a master of hacking the key card security system (or his "little buddy" would simply swipe one from a distracted guard). Yamaki-san was still searching for the "leak" that was telling Kai and his friends of Wild One activity and who was being sent where – But after "the incident" with Takato, Jenrya told him the leak was a good thing among other "not so kindly worded" arguments for Kai's group, even if Shiuchon and Rinchei were members of it. Yamaki grew less vocal, especially in front of Jenrya, Takato and Juri.
Often, however, the "rogue" group run by Kai ended up being "less than helpful" in the end, certain Li siblings in particular...
...At least, that's what Yamaki-san and (to a lesser extent) some of the others said to try to discourage Kai from putting himself in danger so often (Jenrya had been growing less and less vocal on this front since the Hangyoumon incident, Takato never really spoke for or against Kai and his friends as he didn't want to upset his cousin or Yamaki). But Rinchei and his "buddy" were as controllable as Terriermon during a three for one sale on fudge bars at the sweet shop, especially if Mr. Li had left his credit card out in the open where it was most vulnerable (a grave financial error on his part). And, given how Kai had saved Takato's life when Jenrya was completely powerless to do anything but pray Takato could somehow escape...Jenrya had to accept Kai's and, by extension, his brother's and little sister's help, even if he didn't necessarily want it, because Kai and his Tamers were a good thing in the end, something he was growing more and more desperate in trying to convince Yamaki-san.
Lately, though, Demon's Corruption of Wild of Ones had been less and less frequent, while Apocalymon's forces in the Digital World were held back for Baihumon by the combination of Ryou, Cyberdramon, Hirokazu, Guardromon, Kenta, MarineAngemon and Beelzebumon. On Earth, Ruki, Renamon, Takato, Guilmon, Jenrya, Terriermon and Lopmon remotely commanded by Shiuchon (and even then, Yamaki or Jenrya's orders would override her orders, save for the Card Slashes she performed on her own) kept the Wild Ones at bay.
In fact, the "war" had come to enough of a standstill in The Digital World that the the Tamers sent there had returned home on a Hypnos Ark (an upgraded and more stable version of the original ark that brought them home the first time) a little over a week ago. Ryou was the only one to stay behind with Beelzebumon and Cyberdramon to keep a watch on things and aid Baihumon along with the other Digital Gods.
Ryou was the "leader" of Hypnos' Digital World "Crusaders" (those assisting the four Gods against Apocalymon) while Takato, due to his ability to become Dukemon, was considered the undisputed leader of Hypnos' Wild One Task Force on Earth (even though he was embarrassed by the title, Takato was always on the humble side and, often, delegated leadership to Jenrya or Ruki). Jenrya found himself as Takato's "second-in-command," despite the fact Jenrya often felt Ruki should have that title (she was the Digimon Card Queen, after all), but Takato told him that, in battle, they worked together in almost perfect sync, Ruki was more of a "lone fighter," she'd even switch between the Earth and Digital World task forces depending on her mood. Jenrya felt a bit honored when Takato said he saw him as "reliable of a partner as Guilmon," he had trouble hiding his blush as his friend said that to him within their first month of working with Hypnos as their "Digital Defense Force." Especially as he said it while embracing his best friend in tears, it was shortly after the "incident," which Jenrya had felt so useless in. Had it not been for Kai, he was afraid he would have lost his best friend. To hear that best friend call him so "reliable" actually had a bit of a sting to it, though he didn't voice it and simply hugged his friend back and tried to hold back some tears. He felt anything but reliable at the time but also knew, Takato was being truly sincere in his words, "Jen-kun, you're...You're my best friend and, without you, I'd feel useless as a leader. Without your help, I wouldn't know what to say or do, you should be our leader. Not me."
That was when Jenrya returned Takato's embrace and said, "Takato-kun, you...You're too critical of yourself. All of us look up to you, you're the one who created Guilmon, you found the gate that led us to The Digital World. You were the firs to Matrix Evolve...And you're so much braver than you give yourself credit for. I agree, we work great as a team but..." He couldn't finish his sentence as he held back a worried sob.
But when Jenrya showed doubt in what Takato told him, Takato said he meant it and was quick to point out: Kai saved him, Jenrya supported him and helped him recover from it. He wouldn't have been able to slash a card without Jenrya's help. It was true, Jenrya had to literally take Takato's hand and slash cards for him because he was in such a panicked state. Jenrya was the one who managed to calm him down and tell him, as Takato put it, "You were there Jen-kun, just having you there helped me...recover...enough to help Guilmon and Kai. Without you...I-I don't...I don't know what...could have happened...Ka-Kai wouldn't have even known I was in trouble, you were the one to tell him to save me...You saved me just as much, Jen." That was when Jenrya finally let out some tears, as did Takato. The next few days were very emotional for both of them, as well as the other Tamers. Juri and Kai, especially, feared for Takato. They both did what they could to support him and help him recover from the incident alongside Jenrya. Takato knew one truth to his position as leader: His friends would always be there to support him if he needed it...And he never needed them more than he did during that period.
Even with the "return" of the, now legendary, Digimon Tamers there was one person often on Jernya and Takato's mind: Juri Katou. For both the same and different reasons, as far as Jenrya assumed. Despite Yamaki saying the squad consisted of seven of the original Digimon Tamers (not counting Lopmon and Beelzebumon's support), the "official" count was six. And of those seven Tamers there was still one less Digimon: Leomon.
Juri still had no partner despite an experiment by Yamaki to extract Leomon's data from Beelzebumon, the process nearly killed Impmon, who still demanded the experiment continue but Juri actually relented before Yamaki-san would, it was stopped at her tear-filled request, even though Impmon had actually said he didn't care if the experiment killed him. The Digimon, ever since meeting Juri again, was wracked with guilt over his actions, he leapt at Yamaki's theory on how to "extract" Leomon's data from him...Even if the process failed in the end. A failure that devastated Impmon more than anyone else, he would have done anything to atone for his sins as Beelzebumon.
Jenrya had caught the aftermath of that experiment, Impmon was exhausted and injured but demanding Yamaki-san continue even if it killed him while Juri had run off to another part of the labs in tears. He found her, actually, in his and Takato's dorm. She was crying on Takato's shoulder, Jenrya listened in. She was upset for both the fact she was so close to getting Leomon back but also her selfishness in what it had done to Impmon. Takato did his best to console her, that was one of the things that made Jenrya sure that Takato liked Juri...He was always there to help her, the new squad of Tamers still brought back a lot of bad memories for Juri. And the incident with Takato didn't help her, coming so close to losing her "treasured friend," as Jenrya was sure she saw him as if not more, maybe even the "same way" he did...In theory, Jenrya still questioned if that was really the case for his feelings about Takato, a question he asked less and less because he feared what the answer truly was.
Takato was always the one who would get her through it and support her...
...Takato was the whole reason Yamaki-san didn't say six out of the ten original Tamers were a part of the new squad.
Juri was not an "official" Digimon Tamer but she still assisted as well as she could. In fact, she had become invaluable to them: She studied the card game endlessly once the others got their partners back, she was their "card dealer," as the others liked to call her. She would come up with combinations, strategies and all kinds of card slashes specialized for each Tamer and their partner, as well as different combinations set up for different situations (flying Digimon, underground Digimon, demon types, mechanical types and, after the Hangyoumon incident, she put extra care into her underwater decks – Takato's probably had the most cards for that situation). Juri still wanted to help, even without Leomon...
...The fact a few of her "combinations" for Guilmon and Takato included Leomon cards told Jenrya that Juri likely felt the same that Takato, in all likelihood, did for her. Jenrya also considered the idea his feelings for Takato were just a sign of their close bond as friends...
..He hoped. If Takato did feel the same way he did, though, he would be the first to admit: It was not a situation he would at all object to. Jenrya, as much as he didn't want to even think about his own orientation in such a way, knew, deep down, if Takato ever told him he liked him as more than a friend, the way he should feel for Juri or even Ruki and not Jenrya, not another male but, somehow, in whatever unlikely scenario Takato somehow did feel the same way as Jenrya felt for him: Loving Jenrya, of all the unlikely people in the world then...
...Jenrya, when he thought about it knew he'd return those feelings without question. Of course, he didn't like thinking about as it implied more than he wanted it to for himself but, often, he couldn't control it when he found himself alone in his dorm or bedroom at home. He couldn't resist the way just thinking of a dream he was ashamed to admit to having on less and less rare occasions actually coming true would make him smile, even if the smile barely hid the fear that was behind it.
It was early February, now, Terriermon was at home instead of on his head like before when he walked to school. He was at home voluntarily as Rinchei's "buddy" (Pi-kun, as the little annoyance was called by Rinchei) had gotten hold of some poor member of his family's wallet and ordered some takeout just as he was leaving, Terriermon and Pi-kun were both chanting "PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! EXTRA PEPPERONI! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!" together as he left in an annoyed huff, quickly checking to make sure it wasn't his money they took, even if he was bringing a bagged lunch to school he knew better than to leave money out in the open at the Li apartment these days. Rinchei never should have taught Pi-kun how to use a phone, even if it was "in case of an emergency" as Rinchei claimed. The emergency number and Takeyoshi's Take Out are two very different "emergency contacts." Pi-kun was amazingly good at coming up with "excuses" as to why the latter was a "real emergency," often including the word "starvation" seven times...At the least.
That morning Jenrya cut through the park and found an unusual item sitting on a bench. He couldn't believe his eyes, letting out a laugh as he picked them up: The perfect little gift to give Takato! He couldn't believe his luck as he scanned the nearby area, not another soul in sight! They were essentially abandoned, he felt like he could take them as a gift for his "treasured friend" as their previous owner seemingly abandoned the unusual item.
A pair of red goggles with heart-shaped lenses. Right upon seeing them, Jenrya thought to himself, "Maybe Takato might like these. At least, as a joke." Saint Valentine's Day was coming up after all, who knows? Takato might at least like them as "decoration" like a heart shaped badge or a pair of cupid wings. Just a silly little joke gift between friends. A more "unique" and less "annoying" version of the mistletoe-on-a-fishing-pole-hat Hirokazu loved to wear at every Tamers Christmas gathering since D-Reaper, something festive for the current holiday and very fitting for Takato Matsuda of all people. His goggles were a symbol of his status as the leader of the Digimon Tamers. So much so that even Kai had adopted the look to honor his cousin, he wore his old diving goggles from his days as an uminchu on his forehead, jokingly calling them a "divine mandate" that proved the leader of any group of Digimon Tamers. Takato once told Jenrya he was a flattered by Kai's enthusiastic mimicry of his trademark goggles.
Jenrya laughed to himself at the idea of Takato celebrating the day by spreading love through a pair of goggles. He had no idea where they could have come from, the name "Cupid" briefly crossing his mind before his denial quickly silenced that part of his subconscious. And he knew Takato would surely see them as a joke, not as anything romantic...As much as Jenrya was ever-so-slightly willing to admit he wished Takato would both see and, more importantly, accept such a gesture as.
As the two shared the same class that year, Jenrya decided to give them to him at lunch.
Izumi Koushirou
Is that a good way to start it? I mean...I dunno, that stuff about Demon and Apocalymon, and the two "teams" Hypnos split them up into...It is the set up for the second season and all but do I need to remind the reader? I mean, as much as I put my own "spin" on the events of the show, they've seen the show, too! They've probably seen more than I have. Until Taichi and Daisuke's rants on "how freaking gay for Jenrya" Takato is and their arguments as to which one the character is based on (Honestly, it's neither of them, I don't think any of the Tamers are directly based on us despite Toei Anime interviewing us for plot ideas, save for a few elements of a couple of our lives they used for some characters: I honestly believe some of Jenrya's character was inspired by Iori), I never really was into the Digimon anime at first. I've seen only about half of the first season (watching it in order online: I missed all of it back when it was on TV) while watching the second season...It was kinda confusing at first but I've got most of it down, now. I'm mostly tossing in stuff like that as a reminder for myself, I guess, I'm still not as knowledgeable on Digimon Tamers as I should be just from watching the episodes almost completely out of order when I tried to catch it on television before I lost interest at first. I'll make a note of it at the end, a lot of it was my own take on the episodes and "reminders" for me as I wrote the story. I'm sure they'll understand. I mean, I didn't even know who Pi-kun's Tamer was when I first saw an episode with him flying around the Li's apartment-No, I didn't even know Jenrya had an elder brother at first, he didn't have a single line of dialogue in the first season! They really expanded on Rinchei's character, Ididn't even notice him in the background of the first season at times.
And Pi-kun himself was a shock to all of us, Takeru really wasn't happy when he first appeared, Tailmon has been known to be especially vocal about his character. Though, his status as "comic relief" is making the two a little more open to his presence, Takeru finally accepted Beelzebumon as a "good guy," he was convinced he was going to betray everyone at the last minute...I don't even think he's forgiven him for killing Leomon yet. Not that Takeru doesn't have a good reason for suspecting it.
I know, I'm a Chosen Child (a title that comes with immense popularity whenever Tentomon is with me in public, same goes for any of the others and their partners, too) and I wasn't interested in the Digimon anime. You see, after BelialVamdemon's defeat, well, everyone's been getting Digimon, practically! I mean, all those other Chosen Children that showed up to help us out that day? ...At this point, they were just the tip of the iceberg. So, I don't...really have an excuse to not have watched it until, well, Taichi and Daisuke's "intervention," let's say. It's...complicated.
I guess the Digital World has some kind of "see a digimon, get a digimon" rule or something. Jyou's brothers are sort of hoping they get a partner soon, too, with everyone else. Jyou, of course, warned them: "What if it's another Gomamon?" Gods help the Kido family if all three Kido brothers have a Gomamon, especially if the other two are like the Gomamon we all know, are driven insane by and (sorta) love. He's Jyou's exact opposite but the two are best friends, Gomamon just has his "hyper mode" days...
...And is easily confused by things like computers (for a data-based lifeform he knows nothing of computers) and, especially, television. The latter of which he loves more than seafood and shrimp flavored chips – Gomamon needs his thrice daily dose of anime, Super Robot anime usually being what causes "Hyper Mode" because of the excitement: Jyou said he let out "screams and tears of sheer joy" when they announced the latest Gundam series. Jyou's even bought him DVD sets for Christmas (despite being lost on how a television works, Gomamon can easily work a DVD player), if it's Gundam Gomamon wants it! Just the last time I saw him and Jyou in public, Gomamon was singing MISIA's "Orphans No Namida" from Iron Blooded Orphans at full volume. Jyou says he thinks it's his new "favoritest song EVER," as the Gundam-obsessed seal calls it.
For a creature made of data, the time he tried to check Jyou's email for him via the phone (Long story short: Jyou was stuck at school and needed a phone number) was described by Jyou as "worse than asking my great grandmother to do it blindfolded." Gomamon (somehow) ended up forwarding the email to all of us except Jyou by accident, so he got the number from Sora in the end.
But with the existence of the Digital World as common knowledge at this point and more and more people having Digivices and Digi-eggs pop out of their computers...Well, it's bigger than Pokemon could have ever hoped to be. And I don't say that because I hate Pokemon, I say that because, to be honest, I LOVED Pokemon as a kid! While Pokemon GO is the most popular app in existence right now, "Digimon GO" (Taichi's nickname for a Digimon appearing via portable device) is a real life creature that pops out of your tablet or smart phone! And it's free!
Admit it, when you were, like, seven or however young you were when Pokemon Red\Green\Blue (or that "Yellow" version where you get Pikachu as your starter, like the show that's still on after all these years) first came out, you wished you could go on a real Pokemon Quest, collect gym badges, battle Team Rocket and all that stuff. You'd day dream about what you'd do if you had your own Pokemon for hours while either playing the video\card game or (like a certain Daisuke Motomiya admits to) when you were supposed to be doing schoolwork in Sunday detention (which you got because you were reading the Pokemon manga hidden inside of a textbook while thinking, "Man, I wish I had my own Charmander – I'd show Team Rocket a thing or two 'bout how wrong it is to steal Pokemon!" As Daisuke once stated). You wished it was all real and you know it, you also know you once loved repeating the Team Rocket motto with friends while playing Pokemon (or watching the show and saying it with them – I am so guilty of this it's ridiculous, Musashi and Koujirou were my favorite characters) but that was back when they had about thirty or fifty episodes...It kinda got old around episode three hundred, you know?
...Okay, maybe I still like to listen to Musashi and Koujirou's "Rocketto Dan Yo Eien Ni" image song now then and say the motto when it gets to that part—Whatever, I'm getting off track here.
Anyway, just to sum it up: Everyone wanted a Pokemon back when Pokemon was the greatest thing to ever grace this Earth...
...And then people got not only their own Digital Monster-friend but one that actually talks back in your first language instead of just repeating "Tentomon! To ten to mon ten mon! Tento! Tento! Mon! TENTOOOOOOOMOOOOOOON...!" *Bzzap!* I mean, the whole concept of Digimon these days ranks up there with an owl flying through your window with a letter from Hogwarts in its beak or you managing to build a working lightsaber (kinda guilty, I think it's possible using a plasma loop held in place by a magnetic field, the only problem is a hilt-sized power source). That was what it was like for a lot of the kids who suddenly got their own Digimon. I know one kid in my class couldn't stop talking about how amazing his partner Numemon—I repeat NUMEMON—was. I never thought I'd see someone excited about a Numemon of all things. And partners have managed to evolve as high as Ultimate level depending on the Chosen "Child" (adults are getting Digimon, too, we sometimes just say "Chosen" when we encounter one of them, Miyako's brother does not like being called a Chosen Child, but really likes his Falcomon partner. Shin and Shuu, as I said, are really hoping they'll get a partner soon), though it's only temporary. The highest level a Digimon seems to be able to stay at on Earth (so far) is Champion (Tailmon and a Meramon I saw in the city being the only two I personally know of). Most of the Digimon, right now, are in-training or rookie forms, they'll evolve to champion or ultimate (the latter being very rare) now and then depending on the situation. We see a lot of news reports about people who are in accidents or fall from high places that are saved by their partner evolving to champion or ultimate to save them. Digimon seem to have an innate sense to help humans in danger, especially their partner or people that partner cares about. A recent report talked about an averted car crash when a pair of partners in both cars evolved and managed to avoid collision safely, one managing to pull both their partner and their partner's sibling out of the car in time.
Actually, a lot of online message boards are dedicated to people posting pictures of their evolved partners or telling stories of when they evolved...
...A lot I think are fake based on, A, the names (Supermon, Hypermegawesomon, UltimateAgumon, HolyGodOfAllDigimonmon, etc. No, really, someone really claimed they had a partner with a "Hyper Mega" form ending with "Digimonmon") or, B, the kids claiming their Digimon went "from Mega to SUPER ULTRA MEGA level! We're not tellin' how we did it!" Uh, riiiiiiiight...I totally believe every word of that statement. It's not like I've spent years studying Digimon personally and have been to the Digital World on a regular basis. How to be able to get there is something which is not possible for everyone, actually, we're still trying to figure out what grants access, Gennai won't even tell us!
Granted, he might not want free access between Earth and The Digital World for everyone, there have been a few "incidents" with the new "Chosen" he hasn't been particularly happy about. Taichi's been acting as his "mediator" with parts of the Government now and then – Just through phone calls, of course, he's never been on TV or anything like that (well, soccer games aside). He has gone to a few "top secret" government locations and met some equally "top secret" officials, though, he just joked, "Sorry, Kou-kun, if I told you any more I'd have to kill you. Really, here's the cyanide-laced bullet they gave me. I got, like, a hundred more if you wanna keep one! You never know when a cyanide bullet might come in handy, like stopping a home invader or really annoying door to door salesman."
So, yeah, Digimon became even bigger than Pokemon just on the grounds that it's real! Though people don't have Digi-Battles and collect gym badges. Digimon are not tools for fighting – Gennai actually had to say this on television about six months ago: An address from The Digital World to Earth regarding all the Digimon popping up (The situation was bad enough to where he interrupted all Earth digital television broadcasts from the Digital World to explain this). We've had to break up a couple of said fights, too.
The words "But, we weren't fighting, we were having a Digi-battle" was the first time we've ever seen Daisuke giving the "Are you a COMPLETE moron?" stare rather than receiving it – And, whenever he sees one, Ken is verbally ruthless because of his Digimon Kaiser days, he won't forgive "Digi-Battlers," for obvious reasons. Ken's Kaiser-guilt trips are...STILL common and as bad as you'd expect from the holder of the Crest of Kindness. Daisuke said in private (making us swear not to tell him he told us this) that Ken went as far as apologizing to Osamu...I-I won't go into detail how (you can...probably make an educated guess as to where he went) but he was so ashamed that he felt Osamu was owed an explanation and apology for "the monster" he became...Despite knowing the real influence behind the Kaiser. Actually, Osamu comes up a lot when he gets really upset about the past and, recently, something about him being afraid Osamu would be "even more disappointed in him" for, he never gave us any details...His expression alone told us it was something he didn't want to talk about, even if Osamu wasn't a part of the source of his mysterious source of guilt. All I know is Daisuke was (and still is) acting as a serious source of emotional support at the time and, as of late, Ken has gotten better. All I know is that he told me, with a somewhat solemn smile, "I know...without doubt that Osamu would...not be angry at me. I-I just...wish..." He...got emotional, wishing...Osamu was still here. Ken's elder brother is a topic we don't dare to approach unless he mentions him first...And even then, we tread carefully. Wormmon is the one exception, he likes hearing stories about "someone Ken-chan loves so much."
Still, the idea of having your own best Digi-pal?
I take a quick glance to Tentomon, he's sleeping in his Tento-bed (a basket at the foot of my bed with an insect motif I made for him). I can't help but smile ever-so-slightly as he sleeps.
Best. Friend. Ever.
Of course, like Pokemon, there's a billion forms of Digimon merchandise out there. From plush dolls, to the Digimon Card game (Iori is obsessed and, actually, pretty good: He even met his "girl who happens to be my friend and NOT a" girlfriend through a card tournament, it's obvious he likes her back but is just too shy to admit to it) and various toys and merchandise to the hit anime that's in the middle of its second season: Digimon Tamers...
...Which is absolutely nothing like our adventure. Weird since, um, the anime company interviewed us a lot for info on our adventures and just the general nature of Digimon. Daisuke came out of it expecting to sign autographs as the world's first "real life anime character" with V-mon...
...And instead, he's often mistaken for a really bad Takato Matsuda cosplayer (because of the goggles) – Which does not make Daisuke happy in the slightest. He and Taichi argue over which of them Takato is based on. And both are convinced he's gay, too...Well, mostly Taichi (he insists Takato and Jenrya have "a thing going on") while Daisuke just says "Takato's the gayest thing to hit anime since Gravitation. And he makes Gravitation look completely hetero!" ...Yeah...Daisuke, um, really hates Takato for being a sensitive crybaby instead of, well, someone like himself or Taichi. Taichi doesn't mind the show (he likes it) but Daisuke was really let down when Takato first flooded a room with tears. And the whole "artistic type" thing doesn't help his "image."
Plus there's the whole card slashing thing and digimon downloading each others' data, digimon dying for good (Takeru and Ken really hate that and Mimi...did not like seeing Leomon get killed by Beelzebumon for very obvious reasons) and things like that.
We all have mixed feelings on various parts of the show but, for the most part, we all like it in general. Taichi and Daisuke are just annoyed by the fact they didn't get to be anime heroes. Taichi told me how, at the "premier party" for Digimon Tamers' first episode (held at his place, I missed it due to schoolwork), Daisuke showed up expecting a tough, shounen anime-esque hero ("Like me!" To quote the "hero") and left really disappointed ("He spent half the episode crying! What...the..." expletive removed "is WRONG with this show?" He was answered by Iori, sort of, "Daisuke-san, language!").
The company did explain it though: Since Vamdemon DID destroy a large chunk of the city, they thought profiting from his actions would be in bad taste, especially since a very large part of the Fuji TV Station (the station that airs Digimon Tamers) was what WarGreymon kicked into Vamdemon's...Uh...Giant talking...Demon Crotch...I guess...I-I never got that and I don't want to. Vamdemon has learned to terrify me in new and exciting ways without even trying. Case in point: VenomVamdemon's Talking Crotch of Terror.
Actually, Ken and Hikari made me swear not to tell Daisuke this but they're glad that they didn't base the show on our adventures. Hikari because she doesn't want to see or hear the name "Vamdemon" ever again (let alone hear he has FANS because of the show like Beelzebumon does, I admit the idea of "Vamdemon fan sites" is...not something I want to encounter) and Ken for the same reason, except replace "Vamdemon" with "Digimon Kaiser," especially if The Digimon Kaiser got fans, too. And that's not getting into the Dark Masters or Devimon and Etemon...So, I'm with them on the whole "not basing it on a true story" thing. Even Takeru, too, just because of how unsettling he thought the IceDevimon episode of season one was. And, once more, Pi-kun...
...Though, it says something about the writing of the show if Takeru Takaishi is warming up to Rinchei's PicoDevimon. He's more comic relief than anything, I'm not happy about the Pi-kun fan sites but...It's better than Vamdemon fans. And despite Devimon's (Pi-kun's confirmed champion form in the show) evolution is Vamdemon, the writers promised us they'll go with a different part of his evolutionary line if he ever evolves to ultimate. Pi-kun's only evolved once so far.
At least we haven't seen any Dark Masters outside of a MetalSeadramon and Mugendramon in the background of a scene with a ton of megas showing up to fight D-Reaper (I knew of this through the others talking about it after the episode aired, Taichi reminisced with Agumon on how the defeated the two Dramon-types, after all). I mean, we're all a little upset at Demon and Apocalymon being the big bads of the second season but...Compared to The Dark Masters? I really hope we don't see Piemon or Pinocchimon as the big bad villains of season three or anything like that. Or even a cameo...
...Actually, speaking of cameos, I found out I had one in the first episode. The animators made a background character in a crowd look like me. I was a little embarrassed that I didn't know this until I started watching the show but Taichi, our mediator between us and the studio\whatever company wants info from us, explained that originally they wanted to do the same for all of us but the director changed his mind at the last minute. I was the only one who got in, I should thank them for that sometime. The last time I spoke to anyone involved in the "Digimon merchandising" field was when we were all called to meet with someone from the Fuji TV station to discuss our adventure with them.
We all told the studio when they interviewed us: No. Vamdemon. At least we made that clear to them (especially Hikari). Vamdemon is officially a taboo Mon in all media and merchandise, he doesn't have a card or makes any appearances on the show. That was our one rule when it came to the interviews: Do anything you want but NO VAMDEMON! We didn't have the power to forbid them from using him but...We told them every horror story we could think of to make them not want to use him, Tailmon's scars and Iori's story about Yukio Oikawa's fate were more than enough but that didn't stop us from reminding them about who destroyed Odaiba as a giant demon or nearly sacrificed a convention center full of people, who caused those cases of "sudden anemia" among women...Which was a 'mysterious medical case' despite the bitemarks on their necks! Yeesh...Jyou thinks they just didn't want to alarm the public with the idea there's a 'psycho-vampire' on the loose, but...The list went on, one of the interviewers we all spoke to at once (sharing "Vamdemon horror stories" with him) actually had to leave the room in horror, he came back with a cellphone in hand, saying he'd just had a "brief conversation" with the writing staff. We took that as confirmation: Vamdemon was literally to become forgotten history.
Though, we aren't quite thrilled that Demon and Apocalymon are the major villains of the second season...The studio rep swore that the writers had no idea the Demon Corps were led by a "Demon" (they were originally just making a pun on "Demon" with the fact all Digimon's names end with "mon") and his design is completely different from the "real" Demon we fought (looks more like Devimon on steroids, if anything). While Apocalymon, they admit, they thought he would have made a "really cool" villain and, compared to The Dark Masters and Vamdemon, we didn't make "that big" of a deal about him...
...We let it slide, like I said: Vamdemon needs to be forgotten, so as long he's out, we're happy.
However, people do know of his existence, both through what he did to Odaiba (I'm sorry to say he has a Wikipedia Entry with some pictures taken by bystanders during out fight and "alleged sightings" before then with about as much quality as a shot of Bigfoot or Nessie) and...I-I can't believe this but Iori met a girl at a card tournament who had PicoDevimon as a partner (it stayed perched on her shoulder throughout the tournament, Iori admits he expected it to make noise or be a distraction, or even give her tips, but it just stayed quiet the entire time) and, when we asked him, Gennai confirmed: His Ultimate form could potentially be Vamdemon...But a Good Guy Vamdemon (that feels weird to say). We...We're a little concerned about this news but...Iori said the PicoDevimon was actually quite friendly and polite (Takeru was skeptical of that, naturally, it's not hard to guess what a PicoDevimon evolves into as a champion form). Still, despite any potential Chosen Partner Vamdemons out there: In anime, cards and games, Vamdemon does not exist. Taichi actually negotiated this with the companies in charge of games and cards as our representative (we voted that he do it since, unlike the anime, they didn't interview us for "plot ideas" but did use my notes on various Digimons' evolutions for the card game: Gennai and I provided the data for various researchers and, in turn, it went to the media companies making games and anime): Explaining the entire story of what sort of "villain" Vamdemon had been to us, Taichi was quite good at getting his point across, once he spoke to the card game manufacturer and video game studio it was official: Both agreed to never make Vamdemon even appear, villain, good guy (I imagine Tailmon would raise HELL over that one) or even a side character. We expressed our thanks immensely, especially Hikari and Tailmon.
Though as of season two, as I've mentioned before, Rinchei got a PicoDevimon as a partner, too. We...weren't thrilled about that turn of events but Rinchei's almost non-active as a Tamer for the first half of the season (He knows nothing about Digimon, he just got his partner because he wanted a "Digi-buddy" like Jen, he doesn't do much until he joins up with Kai and when they do show up, they usually make things worse for Jen while Yamaki-san usually just lights a cigarette and groans when he shows up). The studio assured us, he will not evolve into Vamdemon. The fact they did confirm he would evolve into Devimon, though, did not sit well with Takeru or Ken, but they allowed it since Rinchei and "Pi-kun" (he's the only character to give his partner a proper name, unless you count Kai calling his partner "Seadramon" in all forms – Though it's more to showcase how Kai doesn't know that much about Digimon) were actually pretty funny characters on the show and the Devimon in question would be largely comic relief: A fact that Takeru actually likes on the grounds that it would really piss off the real Devimon to see him and his rookie form acting like an idiot or as any form of Chosen Child to where he almost sounds like a fan of Rinchei and his partner (I admit, I use similar logic with Vamdemon: That theoretical "Good Guy" Vamdemon would probably be seen as the ultimate insult). Ken's feelings are that Devimon and anything related to Devimon is a bad thing. As I said, we do have differing opinions on the show even if the general consensus between us is that it's pretty good.
I almost wonder if Vamdemon in whatever Digi-Hell his data could potentially exist in (if there is any form of Digi-Heaven or Digi-Hell, I mean) is mad at us for that...If he is, then, take that Vamdemon! No fame for you! You get to just go down in Digital World history as pure evil, no "badass villain" status on this show. Ha ha ha! That goes to Beelzebumon and he turned into a good guy!
Come to think of it, I wonder if Vamdemon turning into a villain-turned-love-freak like Flonne in Disgaea (This anime-obsessed angel who tries to make a Demon Overlord named Laharl into a kindhearted person) would have been an even worse insult than trying to make him a forgotten memory. Maybe we should rethink our "No-Vamdemon" request and change it to "No evil, powerful, non-comic-relief or intelligent Vamdemon allowed." We'll see how things play out with Rinchei and Pi-kun.
Actually, I did write one comedy fic once about him: I turned him into a bumbling idiot...I hope Digi-Hell has the internet, now that I think about that fic. And that it could let me see the angry look on his face as he reads a story that depicts him as a complete moronic amalgam of Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin (Quote the Vampire "D'oh!"). It was my little form of private revenge, I guess. I wrote it before I got into this..Ah..."Other fandom," with, um, Digimon Tamers thanks to a certain rant from Taichi...
...And Daisuke but...Taichi's is "more supportive" of the concept in comparison. And that's not really saying much, "Takato's just so freaking gay" is something I've heard a lot. And I'm just as surprised with myself over how...Fascinating I find this, um, "fandom" to be.
...I swear, I am straight, I just find the concept of Jenkato interesting, you know? And Hirokazu and Kenta, too, as a pairing but they're nearly canon at this point. As in, literally, Mimi and Miyako have a bet running: Ten more episodes until they're official for Mimi, a more realistic twenty for Miyako...Winner buys loser dinner at ANY restaurant of their choosing, the fact Mimi can use Digital Gates to pop into Tokyo and vice-versa actually makes the New York to Tokyo travel really easy, the reverse for Miyako. Miyako hopes to win since she wants to try a "New York Dining experience."
It's not that much of a stretch at this point if it did become "more than a running gag," I think I mean, Kenta's obviously gay as of their third "accidental" kiss in season two (which says a lot considering no other characters have kissed so far, just Hirokazu and Kenta). Jyou, who's a Kenta fan, admits that those two locking lips is one of his favorite running gags in the series, each kiss is caused by more and more implausible circumstances each time, I have a feeling the next kiss will be a series of random events that would make Rube Goldberg or the Final Destination writers proud—I swear, I only know of the latter because Daisuke loves them to the point where he considers them comedies due to the over-the-top circumstances around character deaths, like how it all starts with a drop of water making a sponge weigh too much which makes a plate fall, the shards of the plate go on to somehow cut an exposed wire as the sponge wets the floor...Then something in the background you didn't notice is what kills the victim...Daisuke loves cheesey horror movies, especially slasher flicks.
As for Hirokazu, he strikes me as either secretly in love with Kenta (he never really complains to Kenta after they kiss) or homophobic to where there could be some real drama there (he does freak out when the others bring up the fact Kenta was his first three kisses, but more of a "THOSE DON'T COUNT!" Sense). That is what I like about these pairings, the drama! Not the whole "pairing cute boys" thing the shounen-ai fangirls like! And I avoid yaoi, that's...WAY too extreme for me! Shounen-ai "fluff" as they call it is my limit. That and some drama mixed in, like the fear associated with a confession, you know? Graphic stuff...I don't like that, I mean, it's obviously meant for, ah, "hardcore fans." Despite what the others have joked about, what with me being the "computer nerd" of the ground, I don't have a secret porn folder or look at anything like that! Especially yaoi! I prefer serious romance to...Fanservice! I don't even like harem anime, I just hate it when the focus is less "plot" and more "hot chicks in revealing outfits," so I don't share Daisuke's love of Ken Akamatsu's work or things like Ranma 1\ just don't interest me at all.
I think that's my favorite part of the story: The confession of love, I mean, just everything that could be running through Jenrya or Takato's minds as they finally take the biggest risk of their friendship: Admitting that they love the other. Takato confessing to Juri doesn't carry nearly the risk as Takato confessing to Jenrya...It's that level of devotion and love that I find so interesting.
I really like getting into, say, Takato's head as he contemplates his feelings for Jenrya or vice-versa, I mean, all of the fear, ridicule, hatred even violence that could come from such feelings if he decided to act upon them? I think it's a deeper form of love if they're willing to go take that much of a risk just to be together. I mean, it's not like falling in love with a girl where, at worst, you face rejection from someone who would still likely want to be your friend with them? Friends, family, random people they meet could make them miserable over who they love, I really don't know if I could go through with it if I were somehow in that sort of position. And I'm not stupid, I know it's not a "choice," this is who they are and...The only choice involved is if they accept it as normal or a curse. Or the choice whether or not to take that big risk and confess to who they love and pray for the best...But probably expect the worst. I think that's what I would do...If I were gay, that is. I-I'm not, of course, this is purely hypothetical!
I know from the few (okay, more than a few) fics I've read that coming out is scary. I know it's something that, as much as they wish they didn't have to do, if they truly want to be together they'll have to, you know? I mean, you can't just secretly go out with your best friend your whole life and not either expect someone to ask why you don't seem interested in girls or not have one or two friends or family members start to get suspicious as to why you spend so much time with a "friend" of the same gender. Or, worst, being found in an awkward position with said boyfriend. It's not something they can hide forever and I think that's the scariest part of all: Knowing that you will be discovered someday. And given Takato's personality, I can see that being a huge weight on his shoulders, especially with how "stereotypical" he can be in canon, Takato "has his moments," let's say. Jen would probably be less anxious between them but also do whatever it took to keep things a secret.
It's weird, too, though...I got into these fics a few months ago while Taichi and Daisuke were joking around about who Takato was based on. "You're the one who wears goggles, now, Daisuke: He's based on you."
"I'm not a crybaby, Taichi-san! Don't even joke like that! And besides, he's got your hair color!"
"Yeah, but his boyfriend has Ken's hair color. I kinda think they're implyin' somethin' there, Dai-kun. You two are pretty close jogress partners n' all."
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"
"Hehehe, noooothing~! Or, maybe noooooothing~!" Honestly, I think Taichi has fun teasing Daisuke more than he rants about Takato being gay. Daisuke, on the other hand, adamantly denies that he has had any influence in Takato Matsuda's creation because he is "NOT a flaming gay crybaby!" Daisuke really takes this accusation seriously, too. Even worse when he's told he's a "really bad Takato cosplayer," or as many people have told him: Yellow goggles aren't that hard to find!
"Dude, ju-just because Takato's so freakin' gay doesn't mean I am, too! What? If Jenrya were blond, you want me to say he had the same hair color as YOUR boyfriend!"
"Daisuke, Daisuke, Daisuke...How dare you imply Yamato would cheat on Sora, even if I am just that irresistible! Tsk, tsk, I should tell Sora to smack you for that one!"
"Er...Fine, what if he had...HA! Jyou! Jyou's hair color! Does that mean you got a thing for Jyou? Huh? Do ya? You n' Jyou Kido goin' out? Better fess up! 'Cause me and KEN sure as hell aren't!"
"Hm, point taken. That and Jyou really isn't my type, ya know? But, hey, Takato is the Goggle Boy, and I do believe you came up with that title yourself." It's true, Daisuke is the one who came up with the term "Goggle Boy" (it's what he referred to himself as when they asked why he wore goggles, "I'm the Goggle Boy, that makes me the leader! Like Taichi-san was before!" Plus he wrote a song about it for Yamato's band – I'm serious!) for the "leader," the studio uses it to describe Takato. And in the second season, since he moves to Shinjuku from Okinawa after he gets a partner, Seadramon (Near full-time Champion partner like Leomon was for Juri, except smaller than the Seadramon we've encountered: Kai and one other person can ride him at a time, though he sometimes devolves into Betamon so he can enter the bakery and things like that. Betamon loves bread to where he fights with Guilmon over it practically once per episode): Takato's cousin Kai, he wears goggles, too, the ones he used to use for spear fishing in the first season one movie.
Kai's the "Second Goggle Boy" in Tamers season two, he's still "learning the ropes" because he's almost completely clueless about Digimon. He hasn't even slashed a card yet! And season three starts in a couple months! Though, Rinchei is even worse, he didn't even know there was a card game, literally, the look on Jen's face when he says this to him is hysterical! He grabs a card deck out of his hands and asks, "Wow, they make cards now? When did they start doing that?" This was long after he got his partner, obviously.
Kai isn't an official Hypnos Sanctioned Digimon Tamer (along with a lot of others who get Digimon after Wild Ones start popping up again, like this guy named Mondo who lived in Okinawa with Kai as a kid until he moved to Shinjuku: He's Kai's "tactician," which is a self-proclaimed title, he even carries around a feather fan like Shoukatsuryou Koumei from Sangokushi...Except he has a massive ego compared to Shoukatsuryou). Kai still sneaks along to help out Takato, he saves him from drowning in one episode with Seadramon's help. Jenrya was so worried about Takato, too, while Kai and Seadramon dove to save him. They were fighting some Hangyoumon and it was their first time fighting Digimon underwater, they needed scuba gear and everything. Things went downhill fast once they were ambushed by the Hangyoumon.
I even reference this scene a lot in my latest fic, since it's not only one of the most intense action scenes in the show thus far (it's what cements the fact the Wild Ones are not afraid of hurting or, especially for Takato, killing humans. Well, they kinda weren't afraid before but, this time, they'll intentionally harm or kill people if they want to. And many want to) and major moment in the series for a lot of main characters that follows them throughout the story:
-Kai. It pretty much establishes him as a hero and he even does what Jen does in the first season: He fights a Hangyoumon with a fishing spear alone...Except he doesn't have the luxury of being able to breathe like Jen did, plus he recovers Jen and Takato's dropped D-Arcs from the sea floor while Seadramon, Guilmon and Terriermon dealt with the Hangyoumon. It's also what starts the "information leak" in Hypnos, it hasn't been revealed who it is yet but someone is telling Kai and his group of Tamers about the missions Yamaki sends the others on (fans think it's Jen or Juri since Takato was cleared of suspicion a few episodes ago. They both have motive, namely to make sure Takato isn't put in harms way like that ever again! Both of them were really freaked out after the close call) and about Wild One activity. We'll find out who the leak is, soon, Mondo is using it as leverage to become a "Hypnos" Tamer over an Ichari Tamer because he's fed up with how Kai doesn't take him seriously as "the brains" of the group. How he knows, we don't know yet but...Yamaki-san is very open to the deal.
-Jen, who's supporting Takato emotionally and, since Takato's terrified, physically holding him at the surface for the rest of the battle (he has to take his hand and slash cards for him, Takato's in a completely freaked out state...Not that I can blame him) and helping him out for a few episodes after – A lot of fans comment on how Jen was more concerned than Takato's own parents were when they found out later on (they tried to make Takato stop Taming altogether). Not to mention just how concerned he was for Takato from when it happened onward, he took on the role as Takato's "bodyguard" for a while: If a Wild One got too close, Jen would step in physically if Terriermon was distracted. He gets injured doing this at one point, he gets a rogue PicoDevimon's Pico Dart to the side (The results were not good for him, to say the least, he was in a coma-like state for three episodes...With a worried Takato and Shiuchon at his side the whole time). Rinchei and Pi-kun made it their mission to find that PicoDevimon and hunt it down themselves it evolved to Satamon but they took it down with help from Shiuchon and Antylamon. It was probably Rinchei's most "dramatic moment" so far, as he put it "No-one—I repeat NO-ONE—hurts my little brother...That little freak is gonna pay for this!" And when it evolves before him? "You're just making it worse for yourself, pal. I like a good challenge!" Honestly, Rinchei was sort of scary with this "I will avenge my little brother's injury even if it kills me" attitude throughout the whole thing. Pi-kun also lost his comic relief status for a while.
-Takato, who develops and hides a fear of water, but forces himself to get over it about a dozen episodes later when some Octomon are doing the same thing to a cruise ship his own parents were on for their anniversary (the next episode after the Hangyoumon incident has him freaking out over just the idea of taking a bath) the same thing doesn't happen again since he and Jen know to be much more careful. There's an episode where the Tamers (and some of Kai's group) take a day off at the beach, Takato makes up a lot of lame excuses for not wanting to go anywhere near the water. Jenrya picks up on it, he even begins to ask if "what happened" has anything to do with it but backs off at the last second, knowing that being reminded of it or pointing out any weakness in their leader would only upset Takato. He tries really hard to be a good leader for the group after Yamaki-san gives him that designation: Unlike a lot of characters, the title doesn't go to his head, he's more afraid of the responsibility of having everyone's very lives in his hands. Jenrya and Juri both provide support for him, emotional (both), tactical (Juri, mostly, Jen comes up with some good plans, too, he even gives Takato credit for a few of them by interrupting him before he tells the others they were Jen's: He tells Takato, "You're our leader, the others need to look up to you. I don't mind letting them think you came up with those ideas, Takato: You're a great leader, regardless." Takato feels really bad for this) and, for Jen only, acting as a shield against anything that gets too close. There's a lot of focus on the relationships between characters in this season, especially with Takato and Jen\Juri\Kai. A lot of people think they're setting up a love triangle for Takato's affection between Jenrya and Juri, while Kai seems to like Juri. The shounen-ai fans hope Kai ends up with Juri while Jen gets Takato...I won't lie, I kinda hope so, too, the fan community, at least those who aren't homophobic, think they're writing Takato as a romantically blind bisexual – He has no clue when it comes to anyone liking him as more than a friend or even other peoples' relationships at times. The first season picked up on "romantic subplots" mid-way through the first season because the fan pairings became incredibly popular, there are couple shrines to various characters all over the internet. The second season goes even further. A quick google search for "Jenkato" will turn up a lot of results, I've even seen some in English for the North American dub of the show. I couldn't believe it at first, though I had to run the text through an online translator (you know how good those can be) to understand it the fan art section made it clear: Jenkato Shrine.
-Juri since she takes the incident as if it was a near repeat of Leomon (Takato and Juri fans online reacted similarly to Jen and Takato fans, obviously). She goes into another "D-Pression" state (the term fans use for her state of mind while in D-Reaper) for a bit but gets better after Takato assures her he's fine (even though he's still afraid of water at the time). She dedicates even more time and energy to making Takato card decks that will help in in any situation and tells him he can come to her for any problems, she won't tell anyone. He confided in her about how scared he is being named the leader and how he doesn't feel up to the task. He thinks Jenrya or Ruki should be given the position. She assures him that he is cut out to be leader because everyone still looks up to him and sees him as a great friend. Her dialogue for the "great friend" portion comes off as her hinting at her feelings and implying her feelings are "more than friendship." Takato's oblivious to it, as always. I honestly think she or Jen could say "Takato, I love you" and he'd think they mean it as "you're a very important friend I greatly care for and respect" not a romantic confession...It's sort of a joke among fans that Takato "needs a stronger goggle prescription."
-Yamaki, since he finally starts to see Kai as (as he puts it) "a necessary annoyance." Plus Jen really tore into Yamaki-san in the next episode opening, it starts with him screaming at him to start letting Kai help out on a regular basis since he was the only one who could have saved Takato, Takato was recovering in Hypnos with the others (he was put on the sidelines for the next few episodes). It was one of those rare moments where you see Jenrya really angry at someone, he made a big deal about danger in general but...A lot of fans saw it as him screaming "you nearly killed my boyfriend" due to how over the top he was (even compared to Ruki, who also expressed that she wouldn't accept a mission like that after seeing what Jen and Takato went through – And she's never not scary when she's mad at someone). Actually, what's interesting is Juri in the end of that episode: Yamaki is ending a phone call with Reika, commenting on how angry Jenrya was, when Juri steps into his office with her head hung and only saying "We need to talk about Takato." The following episodes imply her talk was similar to Jen's since Yamaki is seen trying to avoid both of them. Ruki, too (she didn't have a full on rant like Jen but she did have some words for him...And hand gestures that, ah, they just showed her hand going off-screen for more than a few of them, let's say), except she makes a point of being around him to try to intimidate him.
The episode aired early on in the "Corrupted Wild Ones" Arc of the second season, somewhere around episode fifteen or so.
To be honest, I almost expected a CPR-first kiss between the Jenrya and Takato if the scene wasn't played so dramatically. That gag was used a couple episodes later by Hirokazu on Kenta...Who actually didn't even need CPR, Hirokazu just thought he did (long story, it was during a beach filler episode that shows Takato's sudden fear of water – A lot of fans accuse Kenta of "faking it" instead of "sleeping" to get another kiss from Hirokazu). It pretty much established the risk with Hypnos' new method of "organizing" the Tamers to fight these corrupted Wild Ones (which, until then, their "attacks on humans" were only described in Yamaki's mission briefs or news reports, after this episode all of the characters have some major close calls, even Yamaki does while spending time in The Digital World as part of a research team with some of the other Tamers), not just the Digimon running the same risk of being downloaded like before. Some fans think the second season might end with Beelzebumon dying, the last episode ended on a cliffhanger that did not look good for his health – You know an anime series is getting good when even Takeru Takaishi is screaming for a demonic Digimon not to die in the next episode.
Kai's involvement is though the fact he formed a Non-Hypnos sanctioned "Support Team" for the others, he calls the team "Ichari" (it's part of an Okinawan term, Icharibachode, that means "we're family upon meeting"). Yamaki doesn't approve of their existence, believing Hypnos should control all Digimon Taming and conflicts with Wild Ones but, well, as of that episode he's been doing less and less to stop them. The team consists of some new characters, Rinchei, Shiuchon, the "leak" in Hypnos and, to an extent, Kenta. Kenta's part of the group because a lot of them are "aquatic" Tamers with Water-based Digimon, like MarineAngemon...
...Actually, I think it's proof he's gay: Kenta tends to get flustered around Kai while Hirokazu gets jealous when Kenta's talking to or just hanging around Kai. Again, I think Miyako and Mimi are right when it comes to their bet that they will become canon soon. Those two are huge fans of the Hirokazu\Kenta and Kai\Kenta pairings (I kinda like the latter, only because I see Hirokazu being as blind to Kenta's feeling as Takato is to romance in general), I overheard Miyako telling Hikari, "Kenta's just so cute when he blushes around Kai! Did you see him in the last episode when Kai grabbed his hands and encouraged him? He look soooooooo in love~!" I sometimes wonder how Taichi feels about the fact Hikari is a fan of those pairings, she, Miyako and Mimi could not stop talking about the times Hirokazu kisses Kenta again (as in repeatedly) this season.
I like where the season is going so far, though Taichi and Daisuke aren't really bringing Kai into their "Goggle Boy" argument: It's pretty much just Takato they argue over since he's the more well-known and recognized "Goggle Boy" among fans. Plus Kai is a MUCH more "masculine" character, especially compared to Takato! Takato is...An interesting choice for main character but I like the decision they made: A fan of the franchise who becomes a Tamer and a hero but is also an emotional, nice guy artistic character. I think he's a good choice for a "goggle boy," the term that Daisuke coined as Taichi had pointed out...
"I used Goggle Boy describe myself not every guy who wears goggles on his his head!"
"I thought you called me the original Goggle Boy, once."
"'Cause you ARE!"
"So Takato's the new one?"
"No, he's...JUST GAY AS GAY GETS! I mean, dude, yo saw that episode in the new season where he and Jenrya were trapped in that pit together, right? And how Jenrya kept calming him down by freaking hugging him or holding him in place, patting his back like he was sayin' 'there, there, it's okay, Takato-chan' and Takato had this whole 'he's so dreamy' look in his ey—"
"Ha ha, didn't know you paid attention to this kinda thing, Daisuke—"
"I don't! Takato's just that freakin' obvious! Come on, Taichi, the studio thinks one of us is gay or something! I was so expecting him to be some kinda badass hero like we are...! It's not fair, he's supposed to be based on me or you!"
"Maybe he still is based on you...Does the studio know something about you I don't?"
"Grr...I was gonna ask you the same thing!"
I finally chimed in with, "What are you two talking about?"
One long "you actually have NOT WATCHED the most popular anime on TV right now?" Stare later and they filled me in on their 'theories' about Takato, Jenrya and the obvious facts about Hirokazu and Kenta. Everyone, when they found out, was surprised I didn't watch Digimon Tamers, actually. I guess, when I found out about a lot of the changes they made like "card slashing," permanent Digimon-death which, I heard from Taichi, Gennai suggested to help cut down on "Digi-Battles" that some idiots were still having now and then, thankfully there haven't been any "deletions," especially after Gennai made it clear on TV: Digimon who are deleted on Earth CANNOT reconfigure, your Digimon "dies" on Earth, he dies for good (I guess Digimon Tamers was kinda right in that sense but, ah, I don't remember anyone downloading Piemon or anyone else's data at any point, that sounds like a bad idea if you ask me, and we know what Vamdemon managed to pull off on Oikawa-san...The idea a Digimon can possess a human, that's scary when you think about all the other Digimon we faced on Earth). That led to a serious drop in "Digi-Battles," thankfully, especially after it was made illegal in Japan after Gennai's broadcast. But those reasons a few other things like that made it so I wasn't interested when I first read about the anime a few months after Vamdemon's (THIRD) defeat, especially since the producers didn't seem to listen to us after they asked to interview all of us.
...I was very wrong. I really liked the show even though I started in the middle of the second season and had to watch the first online (I won't lie: I was really lost at first, I didn't even remember who was who for the first month) and, well, when I kept an eye out for all those "Takato and Jenrya in love" hints...I noticed a lot of them (I didn't have to look as hard for Hirokazu and Kenta, though, you'd have to be blind and deaf not to notice at least Kenta "swings that way."). I also stumbled onto a Jenkato fan fiction and fan art shrine the first time I started looking for fan sites to get information on the show, then I discovered FanFicWorld, a fan fiction website dedicated to...Everything! And their Digimon section was huge! I mean, um, just massive amounts of Digimon fics by the thousands! I was impressed, I knew Digimon was popular now but not that popular! Especially the, um, character "shipping," pairing characters together in romantic fics...Though a lot of pairings tend to rival one another. Apparently, there's some unwritten rule where you can only like one pairing per character and all others that conflict that one pairing are EVIL!
I don't get the shipping wars, I really don't, I heard that Digimon's "wars" are tame compared to Pokemon's, though, but I only ever followed Musashi and Koujirou fics before I stopped watching, oddly enough, because of them...
...They've gotta cut that motto. Almost a thousand episodes and all but a handful contain Team Rocket not reciting an almost minute long motto. It got so old with me I just quit or, if I'd watch an episode online, skip the scene entirely out of frustration. I can only watch Pokemon online or DVRed because I change the channel if I can't skip that motto...And I used to be a huge fan of those two!
I soon discovered that Jenkato was fairly popular, Hirokenta being almost as popular. There were, of course, the "het" fans, like Juri\Takato or Jenrya\Ruki and, of course, Ruki\Ryou (I don't know why that last one is so popular, Ruki seems to hate Ryou more and more each episode but, then again, fine line between love and hate and all that, right?). But, well, I saw more than a few flames for one of my favorite Jenkato fics and I felt like I should support the pairing since some of the writers were expressing disappointment with how many people hated their work because it was shounen-ai. I don't know why I felt I had to support them like that, especially since shounen-ai was never something I ever cared that much about, but that really upset me. I didn't like the idea of people being so quick to leave the website just because some homophobic jerks didn't like their work.
I even emailed one, begging her not to leave the site since I really enjoyed her Jenkato fics! She stayed on after I told her I wanted to write a Jenkato fic, too, as proof of my support of the pairing if she agreed to stay and continue writing. She agreed to the idea since I, um, made it clear: I was a straight male who liked shounen-ai, she said we were "sort of rare" out there and that she was "very moved" by how upset I was. So my support in that position really helped: Even the straight guys love her work. I got to work on my first Jenkato (or shounen-ai fic) ever...
...I won't lie, though, I made sure to write it with my door closed and not even let Tentomon into the room. I know Digimon probably don't have any concept of homosexuality or the stigma sometimes attached to it but the last thing I needed was Tentomon saying to my parents, "Koushirou-han wrote this story about these two male humans named Jenrya and Takato falling in love, it was very interesting. Do humans write stories like that a lot?" Or something like that, I cannot see that ending without me having a heart attack while trying to defend my heterosexuality. So it was written in top secret. Thankfully, Tentomon had a day-long distraction in the form of Gomamon inviting him over to watch a Gundamon marathon, I told Jyou I couldn't make it since I had some "homework" to do. Tentomon's not as much of a fan as Gomamon but the two like to hang out together.
I was amazed by how quickly I wrote it and how easy it was to write, actually. I thought I'd end up writing an apologetic email saying I "didn't have it in me" to finish it or I had "bad writer's block" or something but...It came to me! Along with a lot of others. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it.
The fic was called "Mirai," after Jenrya's image song. Set about ten years after the first season, Takato and Juri had broken up in college and while consoling Takato, Takato asks Jenrya if he'd ever had his heart broken the way his was. Jenrya, because he had been drinking earlier, admitted that he felt a little heartbroken when someone he loved fell in love with someone else, but said "It wouldn't have worked any way." And...I-I remember, it was the first confession I had ever written...I think I might take a quick glance at it, I had the file open not too long ago because I wanted to look it over for a typo a reviewer pointed out and replace the file on my FanFicWorld account, so it should still be in the recently access file list. I'll just pull it out of my most recent documents and reread my favorite part...
...Got it! Mirai, now to scroll down past the break up and Jenrya's night out with Rinchei...
...Here it is: My first confession. I guess I'm a little proud of it.
"Jenrya, it...It hurts so much, I-I...I loved her, even if we were growing so apart. Have you ever felt this way before? Like...someone you love just tore your heart out?" Takato let out a quiet sob, Jenrya poured more tea for him on the coffee table, they both sat on a pair of couches on either side of the table.
Jenrya shrugged as he poured his own cup next. "I...I sort of did. Not nearly to your extent, though, Takato-kun. They loved someone else, though, much more than me and, I knew, it would never work out between us. I was sad but...I cannot relate. I wish I could, just so I could try to help more."
Takato looked to Jenrya, asking, "It wouldn't have worked out? Why? A-And, Jen, don't...Don't wish you had felt like this, I could never wish such a thing on a friend." He wiped his eyes with a tissue, sighing. "Please, I'd never want to see you suffer on my behalf."
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that I wish I could relate better. And, really, it wasn't meant to be, I know that," Jenrya said, almost dropping his tea pot on the table and then resting his hands on either side of his body, leaning back into the couch in his apartment. He was regretting going to that bar with Rinchei earlier that night, Rinchei had convinced him to "be bad" while the rest of his family was in China, leaving almost a week before Jenrya's college break. Naturally, the one night he decided to get almost blind drunk was the same night Takato broke up with Juri and needed Jenrya's support more than ever.
Naturally, Jenrya would never turn down his best friend in his greatest time of need, just as Takato would never abandon him. He'd been doing his best to hide his drunkenness. Thankfully, Rinchei had gone to his apartment, his roommate having picked them up and dropped off Jenrya about an hour before Takato called and asked if Jenrya "was busy." Takato knew he was home alone for the next week and a half.
"Not meant to be? Je-Jen-kun, how? I mean, you had so many girls after you in high school, remember? Hirokazu's always talking about how he's both envious and mad at you about having so many girls ask you out and you turning down every single one! Why did you do that?"
"They...just weren't, urp—" Jenrya belched into his hand. "So-Sorry, excu-excuse me, Tokata-k—Er...Takato-kun." Jenrya mentally kicked himself, trying hide his eyes instinctively rolling into his skull by looking away from Takato, thankfully he didn't hear the laughter he expected from his friend. "They just...weren't really my, uh, my type." Jenrya nearly fell to one side as he shifted his arms around. He, once more, rolled his eyes to the Heavens, asking the God of Wine why his gift was so mind numbing.
Takato stood up. "Are you okay? I-I caught you at a bad time, didn't I? I'm sorry, Jen, I knew it was late and—"
"N-No, Takato, relax, I want to help you and, Gods, if Juri dumped you? I don't care if you called me in the middle of mid-terms, I'd be right here for you." Jenrya said, standing up and keeping his friend from leaving. He wobbled a little as he stood, finding himself using Takato's shoulders for support."So-Sorry! Sorry...Just, please, stay, Takato-kun, let me help you." This time, he turned away to hide a blush as he let go of Takato, nearly falling back into his own couch. He caught himself on the arm with both hands. The blush quickly vanished. Especially from the next words out of Takato's mouth:
"Are you, um, drunk?" Takato asked as he sat back down, Jenrya collapsed more than sat into his couch, facing his friend while leaning back to avoid having to keep his balance.
I admit, a drunken confession could have been better but...I-I just thought it would work to loosen Jen up, you know? I know this from the time Daisuke snuck a bottle of sake, he had trouble hiding the fact he was both drunk and couldn't keep his mouth shut...Daisuke just "wanted to try it once" while his parents were gone. We decided to let him sleep it off but he asked if Ken could stick around since he...wanted to talk to him, he said. Ken, of course, wouldn't abandon Daisuke. Drunk or sober, especially since he was worried about how drunk he seemed...
"A-A little. I'm sorry, Rinchei wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate the end of mid-terms. I got back not too long ago. Just...Keep talking, Takato-kun, I'll be fine."
"I'm so sorry, Jen, I shouldn't have—"
"Please, Takato. Don't, just let it out, okay? Why did Juri dump you? Trust me, I'm a good listener and, who knows? Some of Rinchei's best advice actually comes from some revelation only he can come up when drunk, maybe I inherited that trait, too." He tried to joke, hoping at least to get a chuckle out of Takato. Anything to make him feel better. Alcohol, of course, made such a thing much easier said than done.
"It's...It's because she, um, I guess we just kept drifting apart over the years. And she got mad since, well, we worked so hard to go to the same college so we could be together that, well, she told me," Takato sighed, tears welling in his eyes as he continued, "how selfish it was of me to ask her to go to the same college if...If we weren't going to last, you know? I-I told her I didn't know any of this would happen, I don't know why what started out as such a strong relationship turned into, I guess, this...Whatever you can call this but I didn't mean to hurt her or anything! She's so angry, Jen. I-I spent almost an hour, before I finally called you, trying to call her. She wouldn't pick up, she eventually turned her phone off...I know she didn't read my texts or anything. She doesn't even want to talk to me anymore!" Takato was doing is best not to break down into a mess of sobs, it was obvious to Jenrya that it took more will power than he knew Takato ever had.
"I'm sorry, Takato. Maybe she's just under pressure from tests. I-I know I get moody when I have to study a lot, you know? Give her some time."
"Jen, she...She broke off the lion pendant I gave her and threw it at me, just before she went back to her dorm," Takato reached into his pocket and passed the jade lion with a broken silver chain to Jenrya, whispering, "She used to love that. It reminded her of Leomon...Now? She told me she never wanted to see it or me ever again."
"I remember when you got this, yeah. Takato, I-I'm sorry, I wish I knew what to say to help but..."
"I-I know, I'm sorry to dump this on you, especially when you're like this. I can leave, really. W-We can talk later—"
"N-No, stay, please," Jenrya shook his head. "I-I'd rather try to somehow make you feel better."
"Thanks, Jen," Takato nods. "Um, since...Since you mentioned it earlier, can you...Can you at least tell me who it was you liked? The one who fell in love with someone else? If it's not too painful?"
"It's not, I mean, I knew it'd never happen between us. The odds of that person feeling the same, ha ha, were a million to one."
"...That person?"
"Yeah." Jenrya nodded, not noticing the confused look on Takato's face.
"Jen, um, who was it? Be honest, okay?"
"What do you mean? Why...Why do you sound so serious?"
"It's just, um, you said 'that person.' Why?"
Jenrya realized what Takao was hitning at. "I-I meant that girl, Takato! Gods, how much liquor did Rinchei get in me? Ha ha ha! That girl, Takato. That girl." Jenrya tried to let out a convincing laugh but even in his drunken state he knew how bad of a cover that was. The expression on Takato's face further cemented that fact, he let out a quiet sigh...
...Takato had to find out sometime, didn't he? Jenrya was now at his friend's mercy.
"Then what's her name?"
"It's not important, Takato," Jenrya replied. "Really, you're reading—"
"PLEASE!" Takato shouted, his eyes tearing up. "Please, Jenrya, I-I want...I want to know 'that person's' name. Please? Be-Before, when you first mentioned 'that person,' you still said 'they' not 'her.' Jenrya, if you...If you're...Please, tell me the truth!" Tears, once more, began welling up in Takato's eyes. This time, however, Jenrya had no idea if it was because of Juri, or the fact Jenrya had been hiding such a secret from him. A secret that, now, Takato may just be afraid is true: Jenrya was gay. Something Jenrya had kept secret because he was afraid of how Takato would feel about that revelation.
Going by the sudden serious look on his friend's face, the tone of his voice and his insistence to know the truth: Jenrya was afraid his fears were about to come true.
But he had no choice, Jenrya had to tell Takato his deepest, darkest most private secret.
Jenrya glanced away, his cheeks turning bright red but this time he made no attempt to hide them from Takato. "You'll be angry...And it would be wrong for me to tell you."
I felt like, for Jenrya, telling Takato he was 'that person' would be something he'd see as wrong. Like taking advantage of Takato during such an emotional time, a time that Takato needed to know he was still loved by someone, I guess. I-I was a little proud of myself for how well this came out, actually, it was my first slash fic but...I'd read so many by that point and I had gotten to know the characters so well that I felt like I could pull it off. And I really wanted this to come out good (No pun intended) because it was part of a deal for my favorite writer to stay, despite all the flames she was getting and that I, too, would soon get: I didn't care, though, I told the flamers "The more you flame me, then the more I want to write shounen-ai. So, what's it gonna be?" Ha ha, some of my readers would jokingly flame me to "help inspire me," those joke flames always made me laugh – And, to be honest, I was shocked to find out I had people who liked my work that much! I didn't think of myself as that much of a writer, even now but looking at my reviews, good or bad, makes me happy to know so many people read what I wrote.
I still backed up her stories just in case but I wanted her to write new ones, too. She still writes fics, she thanked me for helping inspire her on her profile, I even linked to her profile as MY inspiration, too, ha ha! We recommend each others' fics to people, I really want her to be more popular on the site. She's a really big fan of Jenkato.
This fic was written shortly after I created my alternate online persona for fan fiction: Jenshirou Izuda. I figured none of my friends would figure out it was me, I still pretend to be clueless about Digimon Tamers around them as an extra precaution. At first it was mostly to hide the whole "Stupid Vamdemon" fic from the others, just in case they didn't like the idea I, technically, wrote a story about Vamdemon even if it was meant to be a huge insult to him.
"Wrong to tell me because...it's not a girl?" Takato whispered. "Tha-That's not wrong, Jenrya. Don't call it wrong, please." Jenrya couldn't believe it when he heard those words from Takato, he was so sure this would ruin their friendship if Takato didn't approve. The fact he was telling him there was nothing wrong and defending his orientation made him feel better about the next revelation.
Though, given who he liked, Jenrya still feared a very negative reaction from Takato. It's one thing to support a friend, it's another to support a friend who has a crush on you. Or to tell a friend you were helping deal with a break up that you had a crush on them. Jenrya knew, either way, this probably wouldn't end well for him, even with Takato's apparent support of his preference.
"N-No, it's not just that...It's wrong because of who he is. I-I feel like it would be wrong to...tell you his name. I'm sorry, Takato, I never told you this before because I...I just wanted to keep it a secret from everyone. It's...You know, not...Not normal. Please don't be mad—"
"I'm not, do-don't ever think I'd be mad at you, Jenrya. We've been friends since fifth grade, being gay isn't going to change that. And I won't tell anyone, I swear...Just, please, tell me that name. I won't be mad, either."
Jenrya's mind ran with excuses or alternative names but none sounded convincing, even in his drunken state—No, especially in his drunken state he knew: Takato would be able to tell if he was lying, it would be painfully obvious either way if he told him any name but the real one, Takato might as well just guess after calling him on the lie. He let out a quiet sigh, only saying, "I'll tell you if you promise not to be angry or think of me as a horrible person."
"I don't need to make that promise, Jen, I'd never be mad at you or think of you as such. Please?"
Jenrya could not face his friend as he took a deep breath and said, "His name is Takato."
Takato's silence scared Jenrya so much, if he weren't at his own apartment he'd had fled by then to any part of the city but there. He even considered just going to his room and locking the door, hoping Takato would just leave and keep his disgust to himself.
Jenrya felt his heart ache as he heard the sound of Takato getting up from the opposite couch. Jenrya held back a sob, whispering. "I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't—" He fell silent as he felt someone sit next to him, followed by two arms gently wrapping around him. His eyes widened as he let out a quiet gasp. "Ta-Takato? Wha-What are you...?"
"...Thank you," words that Jenrya never expected to hear should Takato find out about his feelings. "I-I...I needed to know that. Thank you, thank you so much."
"Wh-Why?"
"...Jenrya, I-I loved Juri, I really did but...I'm not...I'm not exactly, um, completely into girls, I guess. That was why I wanted to know...who you liked so much. I still...I still loved her but, over time, it wasn't because I had feelings for anyone else, really, but because we grew up to be two completely different people. I'm an artist, I think abstractly, I use my imagination, I treasure it...Juri's working to become a teacher and a counselor, she's become so strict and logical, whenever I show her a painting of something that defies the world she sees, she doesn't like it. I-I think it's from...The Digital World, she wants to forget a world so strange could exist, a world that...cost her so much joy, she doesn't even remember the good times back then, no matter what I say or when I've painted something from then to try to make her happy, she hates it. I know it, even if she says she likes it, she really hates it..She isn't the same person she was when we first went out. Or met, really. It's just...taken me so long to finally see it or, maybe, I've just denied it for so long, thinking it was just a phase for her or something but...Juri isn't the same any more, she's changed so much because of what we went through. I-I can't say I blame her, but...It hurts to think of the happy person she used to be compared to now."
Jenrya just gave a timid nod, unsure of what Takato was trying to say. Takato was right, though, Juri had changed so much in the past decade since their adventure. Even in photos, a picture of her then and now...It's not easy to believe that's the same person in those two photos.
"But, you? Jen, you...You used the same logic Juri does to figure out the Digital World! You're not like her now, you...You never changed as the best friend I always had, you still hope one day for Terriermon to come back. So, um, knowing this? I'm actually happy." I actually had to add a disclaimer to the top of the fic, since I watched the final episodes of season one before going too far into season two (I didn't know Kai, the "new goggle boy" was Takato's Cousin, so the episodes I saw of season two starred him and not the others, I thought it was an all new cast! I hadn't seen the first movie and, well, I didn't recognize Kai from the episode he appeared in). I made it clear: This was BEFORE I watched much of season two, when they did come back and Juri wasn't the depressed mess I thought she'd become.
D-Reaper looked like it would come with a lot of therapy attached to it, you know? Hikari still has the occasional nightmare about Vamdemon and Piemon, ditto Takeru with Devimon and a gun-wielding Pinocchimon added to that mix...And don't get me started on Ken when it comes to The Digimon Kaiser...And that's just the tip of Ken's Iceberg. The stuff under the surface? That "Osamu phase," let's call it, that I mentioned before. He seemed to be genuinely terrified of Osamu judging him over The Digimon Kaiser and, ah, "something he might not approve of" in his life he didn't really elaborate on and we did not pry for details, the only topic more sensitive with Ken than "Digimon Kaiser" is "Osamu." Thankfully, things got better after a few months, he only said, "Now I know how Osamu would feel, and I'm not afraid anymore." We were relieved, when the reason for his depression is Osamu, NONE of us know how to even attempt to make him feel better.
As for my need for 'therapy' after our adventure? Uh, let's just say I'll never go to the circus, a puppet show or read Dracula ever again (Even the worst vampire movies are a little scary once you've encountered a real vampire! Twilight aside, that is, it's hard to be afraid of a vampire that sparkles~! Vamdemon would have been much less of a threat if he sparkled). So, um, I imagine if one of us was the one Vamdemon possessed or trapped in some digital dungeon like with Juri and D-Reaper: They'd never even want to hear the words "Digimon" ever again...Then again, most of us were also turned into Keychains, too, but...I-I don't remember anything between "white sheet over my head" and standing before HolyAngemon...Does that mean I was dead or something? I try not to think too hard on the implications of temporarily being a piece of Digital plastic for about half an hour...Especially when the thought of "was I technically dead for that time?" Pops into my head, then things get existentially scary.
But, yeah, I had to add a disclaimer that says "I didn't know about season two, sorry, no Digimon!" Augh, that still bugs me about this fic. It's like that one I started where MarineAngemon speaks normally. Then I saw an episode where he "speaks," we still want to know how Kenta can carry on full conversations with him (everyone on the show, even Yamaki-san, has their own theory in one of those "thought bubble" scenes, like Takato figuring out a Tamer for Culumon in the first season). Yamaki-san's was the only one not done in funny chibi animations, he just pictured MarineAngemon talking to Kenta while Kenta's mind (shown as a clockwork-like set of gears) translated it based on vowel usage (the fans at least known he changes all of the non-vowels in his speech to Ps, save for lone Ns which are "pu")...
...He then shook his head, thinking, "No-one can be that smart." Tell that to the fans of the "translate MarineAngemon" site: It's a site dedicated to non-Kenta Translated phrases the Digimon says. Daisuke says "it makes those Kenny dialogue transcripts for South Park look easy!" I'll take his word for it, South Park has never been a show I was very interested in. All I knew about it was the whole "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" "You bastards!" Gag.
On a side note: Gomamon, just for fun, once tried MarineAngemon's "Pa Pi Pe Po Pu"-dialogue for fun (he's his favorite Digimon, Jyou says it's part of why Kenta is his favorite character - I'm a little surprised Taichi and Daisuke haven't made fun of him for that yet), Jyou told him he sounded more like Pikachu after a severe head injury than MarineAngemon. Gomamon was not pleased and replied with "Pyou po papa!"Jyou took offense because he knew what he was saying (in front of us) and then the two paused and realized: They just pulled off an actual Kenta and MarineAngemon conversation (before Jyou was lost and Gomamon had to speak slowly to make sure his speech matched up like MarineAngemon's. It was pretty funny, actually).
"Yo-You're...happy? Why? Ta-Takato?" Jenrya stammered as Takato held him tighter, though Jenrya was completely unsure of whether or not to hug back or keep his arms to his side or anything. He never expected this to happen, not in his wildest dreams.
"I-If...If Juri and I...If we can't...fix this..." Takato looked up to Jenrya, even in his haze Jenrya knew what that expression meant.
Still, Jenrya glanced away. "But...It's too soon, right?" Jenrya asked, solemnly. He didn't expect Takato to throw his arms open and scream 'let's go out' as much as he wished. The revelation his friend was bi didn't strike him as hard as he expected for some reason, possibly the alcohol, possibly the suspicion that, maybe, he always knew but denied it so as not to get his hopes up but...
...At the very least, Jenrya could take some solace in the fact he once had a chance. But he would accept it if Takato still stayed with Juri, instead. Even if he didn't, Jenrya did not want to take advantage of Takato's emotional state. Takato needed support, not a lonely friend who would rather seize an opportunity at his own happiness over Takato's well being.
Takato gave a nod. "Ye-Yeah, I-I...I don't think Juri and I can fix things as a couple but, at least, I want to try to be friends again. Jen, can...Can we just wait a little? I want to...ease into this, too. I-I might be bi but I've never really acted on my feelings towards anyone male, especially...you." Takato whispered with a blush.
"Fe-Feelings towards me?" Jenrya felt his jaw fall limp, receiving complete confirmation of what Takato's expression before had meant.
"Of course. I-I just...never thought of you as gay. I don't know if things between Juri and I would have changed if I had but...I'm glad to know I have someone who...still has feelings for me. Thank you, Jenrya."
"Thank you for not being mad, Takato. I-I just felt that telling you would be taking advantage of you right now."
"I understand and, to be honest, that sort of consideration is one of the things I like about you. I-I promise, I-I'll try to be ready soon. Can you wait to find out...if things can, at least, be fixed enough between Juri and I to be friends? ...I don't think we'll be dating again but...I-I just want to wait a little."
"Of course. Takato, I understand completely a-and...And if...If you can fix things with Juri, please, don't worry about me. I'd rather...you were with who you loved most."
Takato let out a quiet chuckle, much to Jenrya's surprise. "To be honest, Jenrya, I-I don't...I don't know who that is."
I-I won't lie, I don't know how realistic any of this was, I mean, I've never dated! I know, I know, I'm just...not into dating, you know? I haven't found the right girl, really...Which is sort of sad since Iori of all people has, as much as he denies it we all know he likes her. The "Nicer Ruki" to his "Ryou Akiyama," (in terms of how Iori's constantly denying any romantic feelings for her like Ruki would to Ryou...Except MUCH more politely. Those two are a "love-hate" couple, fans either think they're secretly in love or secretly more hostile to each other because they used to date, the latter only being a fan theory but they have some shockingly convincing evidence for it. I've seen the youtube videos that discuss it alongside scenes from the show, it came up on the sidebar while I was watching a Scissor Sisters "I Can't Decide" AMV about Ruki. That song is practically her theme song as far as her fans are concerned, a lot of her fans really like how she's the "tough one" in the group with Hirokazu as a not-so-close second). They met at a card tournament as finalists – Iori won the match but she was impressed by how gracious of a winner he was, especially compared to most of the others in the tournament, which is Iori in a nutshell: Polite about everything.
We've met her (Mariko) but not her partner, actually. It's because of the fact it's a PicoDevimon, Mariko told us she understands it might take a little working up to meeting her partner after we told her the stories about the PicoDevimon we knew (Tailmon's were...NOT pleasant, he actually sabotaged her objectives and orders from Vamdemon enough times to try to win 'the boss's favor' that it led to...Bad things, let's say). She does swear that her partner is a lot nicer than you'd expect for a 'Devi'mon. Iori confirms this, saying that he's actually very intelligent and likes pizza rolls (we found the second thing a little random, Mariko explained that the first time Iori visited her she made them and Iori shared his with her partner and had fun doing so, it's his favorite food). Armadimon just added that he "likes to have fun!" Which is a good trait for a Digimon, all of our partners tend to play together when we all meet and bring them along.
Iori (around Takeru, Hikari, Ken or Tailmon, mostly) dodges the subject of Mariko's partner almost as much as the fact Mariko is, for all intents and purposes, his girlfriend, I think it's just his age that makes him so embarrassed – He is just getting out of the "girls have cooties" age, you know? She covered for him once (since Iori still has a lot of trouble with lying and even excuses that "vaguely misrepresent the truth," his words) for her partners' absence by saying, "He didn't want to interrupt our date, I'll bring him sometime soon!" To Iori's response of, "Thi-This isn't really a date! She's joking!" Jyou's tempted to play on Iori's sense of honesty by asking if he's lying or not but...We're just humoring him for now since Mariko seems to like Iori when he's embarrassed, she'll hug his arm and tell him he's cute, which makes him even redder, ha ha ha!
But, well, in the fic I thought Takato would still need time to patch things up with Juri and, possibly, become a couple again and Jenrya would be understanding in either scenario. I sometimes think the writers that spoke to us a couple years ago did base Jenrya a little bit on Iori, all of them expected him to be more of a typical nine year old than...Iori Hida. He's the youngest among us but by far the most mature. Especially when standing next to Daisuke Motomiya since we were all interviewed together. When he told the writers that interviewed us that he practiced Kendo with his grandfather, one of them said, "Hey, why don't we have a character who's a martial artist? Like it runs in the family!" They started brainstorming until they realized Iori was (politely) not speaking up to continue the interview. That tidbit led to Jyou theorizing Jenrya is, at least partially, based on Iori – The fact Iori and Jenrya both practice martial arts and are surprisingly mature and intelligent for their age.
In the end, though, Juri does make up with Takato as friends, only, she finds another boyfriend but apologizes for calling Takato selfish and agrees that they had become too different to be a compatible couple. Takato reveals to her, first, that he and Jen became an item shortly after, which she takes with a lot of confusion but accepts them. The story ends with sort of a cliffhanger that, um, a lot of the reviewers complained about. And I was amazed I even had reviewers who liked it! I got a few "OMG! Diz is sooooo gay, u suck!" flames, too, but...I'm told I'm not bad for a first-time writer, save for the "Super Weird" Vamdemon fic where he's "too stupid to live." I argue: That's the entire point of the fic! And I've met the guy, too: He kind of is too stupid to live. How else do you explain dying THREE TIMES? As Shakespeare once wrote, "Cowards die many deaths."
Ha ha ha, I really wish I had the courage to say that to his face (or...lips...Vamdemon, is there a single part of your body that isn't creepy?) during our "final showdown" in that weird dimension.
Plus a lot of people who don't know about the Odaiba incident from, Gods, so many years ago, now, thought he was a made up Digimon. I actually liked that, I've seen him pop up in a few comedy fics with people saying, "I saw this funny Digimon in another fic, so I wanted to use him. He's like Homer Simpsmon!" So, take that, Vamdemon! The pen is mightier than the sword!
Anyway, the cliffhanger is Jenrya and Takato having dinner with their families after graduation at Jenrya's apartment. The story ends with Jenrya saying, "Everyone, Takato and I would like to make an announcement..." While holding his hand under the table.
I discovered: Ending fics on any kind of cliffhanger is "very mean," ha ha ha! My favorite writer promised to stay since she really liked the story and said she wanted to see more from me. I was skeptical at first about how "good" I was but, well, about five good reviews later and I wrote another one for fun. So, I've been writing in my free time ever since...
...And, again, not because I'm gay and like this sort of thing as anything other than a dramatic story! I mean, I like fics that put a lot of emotion into the coming out and confession, not the kind where it's a happy world where homophobia doesn't exist. It'd be great if real life was like that, don't get me wrong, I'd love it if gays were accepted by everyone but that world doesn't exist, unfortunately. Hell, there are people prejudiced against Digimon as abominations from "Hell," we really take those seriously...Taichi got this close to getting kicked off his soccer team because a few players found out about Agumon and told his coach, who saw all Digimon as varying degrees of "Vamdemon."
Taichi quickly pointed out, "Without Agumon, you'd be enslaved by a Digital Vampire bent on world domination right now." He takes serious offense to the "Anti-Digimon" crowd. Most of it stems from the Digimon that came to Earth after Vamdemon's reign and near the end of 2002 when we had to travel to different parts of the world.
Someday, I hope it might someday a world without prejudice and, like Hikari wishes, a world where human and digital can get along happily, too, but until then it's too unrealistic for me to see fics like that. Like I keep saying, it's all about the drama, the risk, the fear of the unknown reactions from friends and family, all the fear of being ridiculed (or worse) just for being different? All that just to be with someone?
That's love, you know? A really, really deep form of love, to risk everything to be with someone! I-I know, I've said it a dozen times by now but I feel it just really needs to be repeated: I like that aspect, not "pairing cute boys," you know? Re-Really, I no longer judge the male shounen-ai fans I'd sometimes encounter as gay anymore because of this, ah, realization. I...I wish I could work up the courage to ask a few of them if they like it for the same reason, too, but, well, I-I always chicken out. Always. I guess I'm a little insecure about this...Just a little, though!
I-I guess I'm rambling a little, maybe I should take a break from this fic, I'm mostly reviewing what I've already written for typos and stuff. I got a little bit past the part where Jen gives the goggles to Takato (like, just before break started, I was hoping to have it done by now but I've been stuck and "distracted" by something else) but I'm having a little trouble with how Takato jumps to the conclusion Jenrya likes him and Juri finds out what happened to the goggles she had lost. I might want to rewrite that part but I'm not sure. I mean, yeah, he did give him a pair of red, heart-shaped goggles but...Is it normal to just assume there's romantic intent the—Well, actually, I'd think Taichi or Daisuke would jump to that conclusion if anyone gave them some red goggles that had a heart shape to them, so maybe it's not that much of a stretch. Knowing Daisuke, especially, he'll drive is insane asking which girl in his class we think might have given them to him. Or if it were a guy, well, if his rants on Takato are any indication of his feelings on that particular topic...
Ah, I'm dwelling too much on this, especially since what I'm dwelling on is Digimon Slash of all things! I-I mean, come on, Koushirou! The-There's more to the internet, you know this! Like a certain you-know-what that Jyou warned you was going to take over your life but...
...Yeah, I think I'll take a break and and play that new MMO Daisuke suggested: World of Chaos. Taichi, Mimi and some of the others play it, too. I'm actually completely clueless about these things. I mean, I'm more into programs and computers themselves, not games. And the way Daisuke kept using computer related terms that I didn't know! Granted, they were MMO terms like "aggro" and "pull" and "PVP" but...I-I was lost and felt weird knowing that Daisuke had an area of computer related expertise I did not. I didn't mind until he started joking about it, then I decided to buy a copy of World of Chaos...
...And I've regretted not listening to Jyou's warning of its addictive nature ever since! Gods, I had no idea a computer game could come with withdrawal symptoms! Curse you, Storm Entertainment!
Yeah, I think I'll take a break from writing Heart Shaped Goggles and play some WoC. Just to clear my head and think, I've wanted to do this as a fic about Juri buying Takato a pair of goggles that are shaped like a heart as a "romantic gift," but she loses them and Jenrya finds them, he decides to give them to Takato as a joke but Takato reads a too far into the gesture and thinks Jen might feel the same way he does. I sort of see Takato as one of the following:
1. A severe closet case (afraid of his own shadow thinking he's gay).
2. Completely oblivious to anyone's feelings for him. I think the latter is what he's like in the show, I mean, Jenrya often stares at him while he's not looking. Juri, too, actually, does things like that, Jenrya's just a little more subtle (and does the "silent stare of love" more often, I think, Juri is more likely to make a gesture, like the episode she bakes him heart-shaped cookies...And they accidentally end up with Hirokazu, who thinks they're for him). Takato seems completely unaware that either likes him. I don't think he even realizes Kenta might be gay, given how some of their conversations go, Kenta says something that can be taken "a certain way, hint hint" and Takato doesn't get it at all. Seriously, that "conversation" Kenta had about Hirokazu with Takato a few episodes back screamed "Don't you realize I'm trying to come out to you?" For Kenta's side of things. Nothing was explicitly stated, of course. More the more and more annoyed and exasperated looks Kenta kept giving him as things went on until he finally finally collapsed forward on a table and said, "Never mind, forget I said anything." Considering he was coming to Takato for "advice" on his "friends," the subtext was a little obvious.
3. Easily over analyzing something like Jenrya giving him a pair of heart shaped goggles as a sign of love...Not that it might not be. But that's only if he was fully aware he liked Jen. If he thought of Jen or Juri only as a friend he'd just think "Oh, cool gift!" Instead of "Why did he\she give these to me? Is this a message of some kind? Does this mean our feelings are mutual?" If he did have a conscious crush on either of them.
I think the show is playing both Juri and Jenrya as potential love interests for Takato's general obliviousness and the show won't make anything official so that the fans can "have their own fun," you know? Hirokazu and Kenta are pretty much the only confirmed couple in the show...As a gag, mostly, they're the ambiguously gay duo (Ruki even calls them this while Kai, at one point, flat out asks Takato "Hey, cousin, does that friend of yours with the glasses, um, what team does he play on?" Takato's reply? "Kenta-kun doesn't like sports." ...Like I said: Oblivious. Kai just drops it after that when he realizes Takato honestly doesn't know what he's talking about, the internet meme that followed was a screenshot of Kai's expression with words like "You are SO clueless it's painful" or things like that, think the "O RLY?" Owl except with proper spelling and grammar), Taichi and Daisuke don't even bother ranting about them, especially since "Takato's STILL a hundred times gayer" according to...Both, actually. Neither wants to believe Takato is based even remotely on either of them, especially Daisuke.
The idea almost terrifies him, I think...Like I said about that "unrealistic world," though. It would be nice if Daisuke didn't take such issue. At least some good came of his rants, I got into a new fandom through them (even if I doubt that was his or Taichi's intention). First Jenkato, now World of Chaos...What will Daisuke get me into next? I pray it's nothing like that sake he once got hold of.
And speaking of World of Chaos...Okay, Tentomon's napping in his Tento Bed, I don't have any more homework to do...Let's play!
I shrink my fic and double click the icon for World of Chaos (a sword and flaming staff crossed together), the game loads the server list. It should just go straight to my server for my mage: Hawking. I really like having a thunder elemental mage as my character, I feel like I can relate a little bit to Tentomon when uses his Petit Thunder attack or, for my newest spell, Kabuterimon's attack! My newest spell is called "Ball Lightning," it allows Hawking to charge up and throw a massive ball of electricity for tons of damage. It came in handy for some aquatic ruins I was exploring earlier this week.
..That's odd, the game isn't loading straight to my character. What's going on?
Oh, crap! They're doing a rolling server update! Three servers are down at a time for only the Gods know how long! And if I'm lucky this is the second or third time the servers are down for this update. WoC is thorough before breaks, they maintain and update their servers to make sure they can handle the sudden influx of users when school is out. It just takes a long time for them to finish the entire process.
Let me see what the status for Hawking's server is...
Estimated time for World of Betrayal Server (RP, PvP, PvE) update completion: 3hrs 22min. Augh! That usually translates to double what the real wait time is! And that's my server for World of Chaos!
Hawking's my only character, too!
Well, the game does let you create up to thirty characters or something like that, ten per server. Maybe I should create a character for back up and to just have fun with a new set up.
I pick one of the already updated servers, a Role Playing server with PVP (most are just PVE, player versus environment, severs: I like the ones that encourage roleplay and some PVP – I don't do it too much but I'll accept a duel now and then if I think I can win) server and select "Create character."
First gender...Male. I know some guys play a female characters (GIRLs – AKA Guys In Real Life), that's not really my thing, though. Not that I have a thing against girls or see it as virtual cross-dressing, I'd just rather play as my own gender. That and I've seen some of the jerk male players who make cat calls or say that girls can't play video games. My last duel with Mimi tells me: They can and they're pretty good at them, too. Miyako, too, except she doesn't play WoC: She prefers standard RPGs and, shockingly, GTA. She says her brother got her into it, especially Vice City since it has an 80s soundtrack.
Though, it would be kind of fun to respond to a cat call with "I'm a guy" just for the reaction but...Nah, I-I'd rather not have word somehow spread to the others I'm a GIRL player. Especially if I'm, technically, hitting on guys (even if it is to scare them off from hitting on girls in game!).
Mo-Moving...Moving on...Next is race...Human, elf, dwarf, kobold, nekobold, lizard clan, duck clan, beaver clan, Winghorde, Porpoisekin, merperson, undead, VAMPIRES...Gods, all these weird animal-human hybrids! The Kobolds and Nekobolds, especially, dog and cat people! Or...Beavers? Porpoises? I-I don't get it but...Whatever, people love this game for some reason. I usually stick to human, I'm not too big on elves or dwarves or demi-humans or vampires...Especially vampires, I admit: I target them in PVP a lot. In fact, one of those rare times you'll ever see Hikari in a fit of vengeful bloodlust is if a Vampire player threatens her. I once heard Tailmon request that she beat one guy up for his username: VampireDemon666 – I'm pretty sure she did, I was in the other room with Taichi editing some videos I made for him, then we heard Tailmon screaming "DESTROY HIM, HIKARI!" In the other room, Taichi had to see what was going on. Me, too, I rarely hear so much...BLOODLUST coming from Tailmon.
Okay, male human...Select class...Warrior, mage, rogue, hunter, monk, gadgeteer, trickster...I'll go with another mage. And with a fire specialty instead of Thunder like with Hawking...Actually...
Name...Ha ha ha, I wonder if this is taken: Jenkato. Why not? I'll check the availability on this server...
...Not taken! Huh, in that case...
Jenkato
Human
Fire Mage
Now for weapon specialties...Why not crossbows and guns? Like Gargomon\SaintGargomon with a bare fisted subspecialty? Guilmon's fireballs combined with Terriermon's weapons arsenal and Jenrya's martial arts. And for looks, I'll try to give him all blue armor to make him resemble Takato, maybe toss in some orange and black, too. At the very least, I'm editing his appearance with brown hair that kinda looks like Takato. Not perfect but good enough, no facial hair this time like Hawking's Kan Uu-sama-esque black beard.
Plus, I know Goggles are a head accessory in this game, I gotta get those for him! And a Zhugenu repeating crossbow for when he's a higher level! It's the closest this game has to a gatling gun, after all...Hell, it's China's two thousand year old answer to the gatling gun.
I think I found a fun way to get ready and spend my break from school, now, leveling Jenkato! And, maybe, finishing Heart Shaped Goggles...Maybe. I'm a little stuck. I'll leave the file open just in case something hits me while I'm playing tonight. I shouldn't be up too late, though, I have school in the morning. Break starts the day after tomorrow, so I'll have some time to spend levelling Jenkato before then.
Actually, break starting probably explains the server updates. Gods, these things can last for DAYS at a time, they usually check and re-check each server before major breaks when they expect a ton of players, like seasonal breaks. I just hope they didn't just start the process, and if they did they take down each server twice at most (instead of three or more like they sometimes do). Either way, I can spend time watching the rest of Digimon Tamers season one that I missed, I'm just about done with the D-Reaper arc (plus I already saw the last three episodes, again, I watched all of season one out of order) and I've seen most of season two that's aired, too. Demon's close to being defeated, Apocalymon is threatening to take out the entire Digital World by re-releasing D-Reaper and combining with it...As someone who actually fought Apocalymon: I gotta say, the studio captured his character really well, though he tends to go off on long rants about himself that, uh, Ken was the one to say this: "He makes The Digimon Kaiser look humble at times." It's actually kinda true.
Okay, Jenkato has been created, now to enter the World of Chaos. This might just be a lot of fun!
I wonder if anyone will recognize the name. I doubt it, but then again, Digimon is the biggest thing in anime, games and everything else right now. Who knows?
To Be Continued...