I don't own Digimon or anything related to it (If I did, there would definitely be a continuation of the second season). That said, the characters of Aiko Nomura and Kaori Motomiya are my intellectual property. Uhh...though I guess no one wants to make use of someone else's OC, haha.
Anyway, I guess this is where I start things off. This is supposed to be a continuation of the second season of Digimon, beginning in April 2003. I tried to make this as culturally accurate to Japan as possible, considering the setting, so if there's anything that doesn't make sense, or if I got something about the culture wrong, post it in a review and I'll clear it up in the next chapter?
This entire fic started off as a plot bunny when I listened to the drama CD where Hikari learns that Jun, Momoe, Chizuru, and Shuu have all become Chosen Children. I figured four was a small number to start with (and it means death in Japan) and the first season showed five children coming to the Digital World before the "first" eight, so I added in two OCs. I swear there's a reason I didn't use other pre-existing characters for this. And I suppose I should probably start this off because of the announcement of Adventure 03. Yay!
Episode One: Restart
"Nee-chan, I don't want to be late for my first day of high school!" Inoue Chizuru wailed to her older sister, Momoe, "Miyako has already left! What's taking you so long?!" Chizuru paced back and forth, staring at the clock, then to the closed bathroom door Momoe was behind.
"You won't be late! You have an hour!" Momoe shouted back, her voice muffled through the wall, "You're just over-excited, Zuru."
"Arrgh," Chizuru groaned, flopping down onto the couch with her face in a pillow. Today was her first day of high school! Of course she was excited! There were people to meet, clubs to join, and top marks to maintain! Honestly, no one could blame Chizuru for wanting to get a head start!
"Zuru," Mantarou began from the dining table, "Why don't you just go on ahead?" Chizuru lifted her head from the cushions and adjusted her glasses so she could see the brother she wanted to glare at.
"Becauuuuse," She moaned, "Nee-san wants me to walk with Jun-san and her cousin. It's her cousin's first day of high school too, apparently."
"Then wait. You wanted to meet people. Jun's cousin is technically people," Mantarou replied seriously. Chizuru sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, Mantarou was right (in a simplistic, totally-doesn't-count sort of way).
"But what's taking Nee-san so long? It's a uniform-there isn't anything she can do with it!" Chizuru whined, purposefully ignoring his point. Mantarou only shook his head, laughing slightly to himself while Chizuru continued to pace in the living room, fiddling with the red ribbon clipped to the side of her short blonde hair.
After fifteen minutes, Momoe exited the bathroom, her hair pulled back neatly without a single strand out of place, "Finally!" Chizuru cheered, her hands raised up in mock cheer. Momoe rolled her eyes good-naturedly before grabbing a pouch of peach jelly off the table and a pork bun. Stuffing the bun in her schoolbag and the jelly pouch in her mouth, Momoe jerked her head towards the door, waving to Mantarou as she left. Chizuru trailed after her excitedly, letting an arm hang behind her as a goodbye to her brother as well.
"So where does Jun-san's cousin live?" Chizuru asked as Momoe turned onto a street midway from their apartment and school. Momoe took her time to take her jelly pouch out of her mouth and pointed to the apartment just ahead of them leisurely.
"Kaori-san lives in the same complex as Jun-chan, I'm just not sure where," Momoe explained. They walked into the apartment complex, making their way up the elevator to the sixteenth floor where Jun lived. Chizuru counted the doors (...five...six...seven...) until they stopped at one labeled 'Motomiya'.
Momoe rapped her knuckles on the door loudly and Chizuru heard yells on the other side, 'Get that door!' 'No way! It's probably one of your stupid friends, Nee-san!' 'Momoe-chan is not stupid! Don't make fun of my friends!' 'Make me!' 'Just get the door, dumbass!'
The door swung open, revealing an irritated boy on the other side, "Whaddya want?" He grumbled, but gave way for Momoe and Chizuru to walk in. Jun was nowhere to be seen.
"We're gonna walk with Jun-chan and Kaori-san to school today," Momoe explained to the boy while she walked into the hallway to where Jun's room was. The boy rolled his eyes and walked over to the couch where a blue lizard sat watching the morning cartoons. Chizuru recalled that this boy was one of those kids like her sister. The lizard seemed too enraptured with the cartoons, watching the battle with a gung-ho like attitude, to even notice that there were two other people in the living room.
"Nee-chan isn't even here yet. I bet you're gonna have to go wake her up on your way out. Good luck with that," The boy grumbled as he sat down beside the lizard to watch the cartoon with him.
"Daisuke, look! He's making that building explode...KABOOM!" The lizard cheered as the onscreen building collapsed. (Oh, Chizuru thought. Daisuke, that was his name. Daisuke. Chizuru made a mental note to remember because she was sure that he was one of Miyako's friends.) Chizuru watched the lizard-no, it was a Digimon, wasn't it? Chizuru watched the Digimon beside Daisuke with unconcealed interest and suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to cry, as if she had suddenly forgotten her name, her home, her life. Something was off about everything, but without a clear reason. Chizuru didn't feel this way when she stared at Hawkmon, but why did she have such a sudden longing upon seeing this scaly blue Digimon? Chizuru turned away before the urge to cry became a need and found that Jun and Momoe had entered the room; Jun was straightening out her tie. The pork bun Momoe had brought from home was now snugly stuck between Jun's teeth, holding it in place while her hands were busy. Jun pulled the pork bun from between her lips and swallowed what she had already been chewing on when she had finished.
"Hiya, Chizuru!" She greeted brightly, earning herself a snort from Daisuke's direction. Jun glowered at the back of her brother's head, but said nothing, "Ignore him. He's just upset that his Nee-chan is going to high school and is growing up without him," Jun announced out loud, "Daisuke, she's still got the brain of a boy your age. You can bother her whenever you want,"
Daisuke whipped around, a cherry flush painted across the bridge of his nose, "No I'm not! I don't care if she's gonna...that's dumb..." By the time his miniature tirade had ended, Daisuke had lost most of his steam and was left with nothing but weak mumbles. Momoe and Jun exchanged an amused smile, catching something Chizuru was missing.
"Well, we have to go get her anyway. Come on, Kaori-chan lives a few floors down from us," Jun jerked her head towards the door before shouting, "You'd better get going too, Daisuke. I'm sure you don't want to be late on your first day!" Daisuke stuck his tongue out at her, saying nothing. Chizuru took one last fleeting glance at the blue Digimon before following Momoe and Jun out the front door.
"Jun, your shoes," Momoe sing-songed as if it were something she said often, and Jun jumped in alarm. Chizuru looked down to see that Jun had walked out without shoes on, only her navy blue socks keeping her legs covered.
"Oh! I'll be right back!" Jun cried out, and raced inside to pull her shoes on. Shouts could be heard inside-Chizuru assumed that Daisuke was teasing his sister about her lack of footwear. Jun left her apartment a minute later, hopping on one foot as she pulled on her right shoe and muttered about her 'idiot brother'. The three of them walked to the elevator in silence, Jun devouring what was left of her pork bun, Momoe waiting patiently for Jun to finish, and Chizuru...
"Hey...what's your brother's...partner? Yeah, what's his name?" Chizuru asked Jun suddenly as the elevator doors opened. A question seemed to be budding its way to Jun's lips, but it never came out, blocked by pork bun.
"V-mon. He's alright-a lot nicer to me than Daisuke is," Jun said instead once she swallowed. Chizuru felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest and chalked the feeling up to her sated curiosity. It didn't matter anyway, Chizuru sighed inwardly, Digimon were just something she was going to have to get used to.
"Why did you want to know?" Momoe asked, ever the intuitive, curious one. Chizuru shot her head up to meet her sister's amber eyes.
"I don't know...just wondering," She mumbled, crossing her arms self-consciously. And she really didn't, as pressing as the matter had seemed just a moment ago.
"Makes you a little...sad, doesn't it?" Momoe went on, and when Chizuru tightened her arms in alarm the elder Inoue sister smiled, "It's okay. Jun and I were talking about it a little while ago. It makes us kind of sad too. Lately, Jun-chan gets sad when she sees Hawkmon or the partner of Yamato-kun's girlfriend. Actually...I get pretty bothered when I see his partner," Chizuru glanced from Momoe to Jun, both of whom looked uncomfortable with where this conversation was headed.
"Maybe...I think it's because I want a partner too. I think it would be nice...y'know, to have a best friend that always has your back," Jun dropped her cheek into her palm, looking past the balcony and towards the sky as if there was some sort of answer written in the cloudless blue.
"What about me?!" Momoe cried out, indignant.
"Oh, you know what I mean. You never see Miyako without Hawkmon, or Daisuke without V-mon, nowadays that everyone knows about Digimon. You and I can't be together all the time like they can," Jun's words struck an almost painful chord in Chizuru, "It must be nice, having a partner Digimon."
"Yeah. It must be like a soulmate...but deeper somehow. Does that even make any sense?" Chizuru's voice was soft and vulnerable. Both Momoe and Jun nodded. A solemn air settled around them, only broken when Jun stopped at a door labeled 'Motomiya' like hers was. Jun knocked on the door, two heavy thuds against it. No one answered. Jun waited a few seconds before banging her knuckles on the door again.
"Kaori-chan, I know you're in there! WAKE UP!" Jun screamed at the door, her voice a stark contrast to the longing tone it held only a few minutes ago. There was a shout on the other side of it, a man's voice, 'Kaori-chan! Wake up! You lazy girl, it's your first day of high school and you're still sleeping in?!'
A girl's scream of, 'I'm up! I swear I'm up!' followed, then came the rapid sound of heavy footsteps and the door opened. A short teen girl who must have been the same age as Chizuru stood on the other side of the door. She was already dressed in her uniform, though it was crumpled up and if Chizuru didn't know any better, she'd have thought the other girl slept in it, "Morning," The diminutive girl greeted with an awkwardly fake coolness, running a hand through her unruly bedhead, "I'll brush my teeth...and stuff...and be out real quick, kay?" She rushed to the bathroom, leaving Jun, Momoe, and Chizuru behind to stare at her dumbfoundedly.
"...That was Kaori?" Chizuru asked, following Jun and Momoe inside the apartment. Chizuru shuddered involuntarily. It was a mess. Clothes (was that a bra hanging off the coffee table?) and candy wrappers were littered around the tiny apartment, most concentrated around a gamestation next to the TV. On the couch was a man who appeared to be Kaori's father, sprawled across it and flipping through channels lazily, a similar mess of telltale Motomiya-wild hair atop his own head that Kaori had. He stopped on the same cartoon program Daisuke and V-mon were watching only a few floors above them.
"Yeah, that was her," Jun sighed, rubbing her forehead irritably, "Hurry up! We've lost enough time coming to get your lazy butt!"
"I saved you time by sleeping in this uniform!" Kaori's voice carried out of the bathroom easily. Huh. So she had slept in it, Chizuru mused.
"It's wrinkled and messy! The teachers are going to be on your case!" Jun chided. Chizuru and Momoe watched as Jun and Kaori argued back and forth like a game of Pong. Chizuru got the feeling that they did this often.
"That's no different from middle school!" Kaori shot back over the sound of running water, her voice muffled slightly from what Chizuru could only assume was a toothbrush.
"Shouldn't this year be different from all the other years?" Kaori's father asked irritably from the couch, interrupting his niece and daughter from their squabbling. Or, Chizuru thought wryly, he was joining in.
"Not in that way," Kaori whined, exiting the bathroom and pulling her hair down, "It's gonna be different 'cause it is. Something big is gonna happen, I can feel it." She patted her heart for emphasis, though Jun grabbed Kaori's hand and moved it towards her stomach, patting there. When Jun and Kaori stood side by side, Chizuru noticed that their faces were nearly identical, except Kaori had steely eyes and burgundy hair (like Daisuke had) while Jun had black eyes and red hair. They almost could have been recolored twins...
"I think you're just hungry," Jun teased her cousin. Kaori glared at Jun, but was too busy pulling her wildly messy locks into two small, round, pigtails below her ears, to concern herself with a reasonable response.
"Whatever," She huffed, then headed to the door to pull her shoes on, "Later, Old Man. I'll see you after school!"
"Don't count on it, I'm headed to the bar early today," Kaori's father called out to her, a muted, "And clean up when you get home!" the last thing Chizuru heard after Kaori slammed the door shut.
"No way! You don't clean so why should I!?" Kaori yelled at the door before stalking towards the elevator. Jun and Momoe exchanged another special look between them before dissolving into a fit of giggles which went ignored by the unkempt girl. They walked to school in relative silence, Jun and Momoe walking ahead of Chizuru and Kaori, chattering about something they deemed important. Chizuru caught snippets of names, a Kido-san and a Shuu-kun , but not much else. She wasn't entirely interested (A tiny, easily squashed part of her begged to differ before being shot down completely) in talking about boys anyway. Instead, because the girl was in her grade, Chizuru turned to face Kaori.
"So, are you excited that school is starting?" She asked, trying to make small talk. Kaori grunted-she was digging through her bag for something, "Uhm, what are you looking for?" Chizuru asked, going in a different direction for conversation this time. Kaori was still, more or less, unresponsive and Chizuru crossed her arms in annoyance, "So I guess you're not the most social person around..."
"FOUND IT!" Kaori cried out triumphantly, throwing Chizuru off guard, and pulling what looked like a green apple lollipop from her bag. The wrapper had already fallen off and there was lint all over the sugary confection, but Kaori shoved it in her mouth with an overjoyed grin anyway, "Sorry, I don't function in the mornings without something sweet," She apologized. (Chizuru heard Jun chide ahead of them, "Or at all, Kaori-chan," but Kaori choose to ignore her again.)
"It's fine," Chizuru replied weakly, but decided to reboot her conversation anyway, "You excited for school?" She decided that she wasn't surprised when Kaori snorted derisively, "I'm taking that as a no."
"You got that right. I told Dad that I didn't have to go. I mean, high school isn't exactly mandatory, y'know? But I passed my entrance exams somehow, so here I am," Kaori rolled her eyes, "I'm Kaori, by the way. You can call me Kaori-chan, everyone else does. But I guess you already knew that, hearing Nee-san yelling at me earlier," Kaori gave Chizuru a lazy shrug.
"Inoue Chizuru. I'm Momoe's younger sister," Chizuru explained, wondering just what kind of lazy girl Kaori was. But she seemed nice enough, and Chizuru began chatting with the girl amicably the rest of the way to school. (They hadn't even noticed that Jun and Momoe had walked on ahead of them, too caught up in their conversations to even notice they had left their younger cousin and sister behind.)
"I hope we'll have some of the same classes," Kaori laughed brightly at the school gates when she was bowled over by another student on a skateboard, "Oh, come on!" Kaori bemoaned, tangled in herself on the floor. The skateboard and its green-haired owner had rolled to the sidewalk, the boy groaning in pain as well. It didn't take him long to get up, however, and rushed over to Kaori's side, apologizing profusely. He helped Kaori up, easing the girl to her feet.
"Are you alright?! I'm so sorry, I thought I was gonna be late, and I was rushing and I don't even know where anything is and I'm so sorry!" He was helping Kaori dust off her uniform and absentmindedly straightening out her clothes, much to her embarrassment (Chizuru noticed that he fixed her clothes to a more presentable state than they had been initially). Kaori quickly pried his hands free from adjusting her collar and coughed loudly to make him stand back. He did.
"Well...uhh, thanks," Kaori said lamely, looking anywhere but at the boy, clearly flustered, "It's not a big deal." She turned away from the green-haired boy without another word and faced Chizuru again, "Uh, we should get going. We're going to be late." Chizuru nodded and made way to follow Kaori inside the school grounds.
"W-wait!" The green-haired boy chased after them as soon as he picked his skateboard off the ground, long legs taking quick strides over to the two girls. Chizuru turned her head around to show she heard the boy and he continued, "I-I just moved here from America...do you know where room 2-D is?" Chizuru and Kaori exchanged glances.
"It's a shame Nee-san and Jun-san left us behind," Chizuru dropped her face in her palm, "Because we don't know either. It's our first year of high school, so we're not going to be much help to you," The boy's face fell, making Chizuru feel slightly guilty, "But I think I can help you out a bit, at least slightly," She offered. The boy's face broke out into a wide smile, "If it's room 2-D, you should find your homeroom on the second floor. So that takes care of two-thirds of your searching. I don't know where Room 2-D would be exactly per say, but you can start there."
"Oh, wow! Thanks!" The boy grasped Chizuru's hand and shook it. He really must have been in America for a long time, he didn't even bow, Chizuru thought to herself, shaking his hand back awkwardly. "I'm Aiko Nomura...I mean, Nomura Aiko." Aiko introduced himself candidly. He seemed nice, Chizuru concluded.
"Inoue Chizuru," Chizuru supplied her own name. Aiko then turned to Kaori and shook her hand as well. Kaori shook it back enthusiastically, for what Chizuru assumed was just for her amusement.
"Motomiya Kaori," Kaori responded in kind, grinning widely as Aiko's shoulder was jerked downwards with each rough shake of their hands.
Chizuru checked her watch, "Class is gonna start soon, so we should get going. Good luck, Nomura-san," Chizuru bowed to Aiko, who bowed back awkwardly. Aiko turned around, dropping his skateboard on the ground and rolling away with a single sweep of his long leg. Chizuru turned to Kaori, "So let's go?" Kaori nodded, grinning. (As it turned out, Chizuru and Kaori did not share a homeroom, but they had the same science, Japanese, and English class.)
Lunchtime couldn't have come soon enough for Momoe. The only class she had with Jun was Homeroom! How was she going to get through her last year of high school only seeing her best friend at lunch?! Momoe huffed as she stalked over to the computer lab where she and Jun always ate their lunches, looking up pictures of boys Jun thought were cute and then making fun of their hair. Momoe remembered telling Chizuru that she was welcome to join them for lunch today, messaging her in the middle of ethics so she wouldn't have to listen to jargon about Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
Momoe wasn't at all surprised to find Jun, Chizuru, and Kaori waiting for her inside, each of them chatting animatedly about their first day of school. What she was surprised to find was a boy with bright green hair sitting in between Chizuru and Kaori, a skateboard under his feet as he rolled it left and right habitually. He didn't say much, only interjecting his opinion every few minutes, too busy laughing at Jun and Kaori's animated body language.
"Momoe-chan!" Jun cheered, leaping off her seat to greet Momoe excitedly, "I missed having you in my classes! It's so lonely when you're not with me!" Momoe smiled; at least Jun felt the same way about their lack of shared classes.
"I know," She groaned, pulling up a chair and sitting between Jun and Chizuru, "So who are you?" Momoe pointed to the boy seated across from her. The boy turned red and looked down at his feet, "There's no need to get all tongue-tied. What's your name?" Momoe smiled good-naturedly. The boy looked back up at Momoe and nodded.
"Nomura Aiko," He supplied, bringing a hand forward to shake Momoe's. She stared at it, not sure why Aiko was offering her his hand, when Chizuru explained,
"Aiko moved here from America recently," Momoe's mouth fell into an 'o' shape, understanding. She took Aiko's hand and gave it a gentle shake.
"Yeah, I moved from Hikarigaoka to New York when I was a kid, but something came up so I moved to Odaiba to live with my mom," Aiko explained, shifting in his seat uncomfortably, "It's not a big deal, really. Just a culture shock, I guess. I mean, it's been about...I think six years now."
"I bet America must be awesome," Kaori said, leaning back in her chair and pulling her lolipop from between her teeth, "I hear you can be whatever you want and you don't have to worry about entrance exams and that junk," A dreamy expression fell over her face and Momoe wondered just what kind of career Kaori wanted to have, if at all.
"It was pretty nice until after the Twin Towers crashed," Aiko sighed, "I remember the hell I went through just to get on the plane back to Japan. Especially since I was living in New York in the first place."
Jun opened her mouth to ask something, but the door to the computer lab opened once more. Everyone turned to face the newcomer, a tall man with blue hair and glasses, "Shuu-kun!" Jun shrieked, flying out of her chair and launched herself into his arms. Shuu hugged Jun tightly around her waist, smiling gently at her.
"Hey, Jun. How's your first day going so far?" He greeted Jun. She began chattering animatedly about how her day was, talking almost too fast for anyone to understand. Suddenly, Momoe felt the atmosphere in the air change drastically, and not in a good way. She was about to open her mouth when-
"I have a better question," Kaori interjected loudly, "How did you get in here?" Jun glared at Kaori, who glared back. Jun crossed her arms and stood in front of Shuu protectively.
"Are you always going to be this rude to him?" Jun snapped at her cousin. Kaori stood up so she was eye level with Jun, fists kept at her sides tightly.
"Yes, I am. Every. Single. Time. He's too old for you!" She exclaimed. Shuu shrank back slightly, smiling to hide his nervousness, "You're barely about to turn eighteen! He's twenty!" Kaori continued to rant, waving her arms in the air erratically. Momoe would have compared Kaori to a flustered chicken if she hadn't seemed so ready to duke it out with anyone who crossed her.
"Okay guys, we don't have to make a big sce-" Chizuru piped up, trying to diffuse the tension, and was promptly ignored.
"How is that a big deal?! You're just jealous!" Jun snapped, "It's not my fault that the only boy who can put up with you is Daisuke!" Kaori looked incredibly affronted, her mouth hanging open.
"You-you take that back!" She spluttered. Though neither Kaori nor Jun noticed, the lights in the computer lab began flickering.
"Uhh...guys?" Shuu tried to interject, observing the odd phenomenon warily. Jun and Kaori continued to squabble amidst the chaos, oblivious to the strange, polygonal, language that began scrolling across every computer screen and spat out of every printer like machine gun fire, "I don't think right now is the best time for this..."
"What's going on?" Aiko had begun shrinking into himself a little in confusion, "Maybe we should get out of here..."
But Jun and Kaori continued to bicker, their voices rising above the screeching noises the computers were making. Momoe looked to the closest computer as text in a familiar language spelled itself before her.
"Gate Open," She whispered to herself as a white light engulfed the room and everything went silent. The light faded slowly and when their vision returned to normal, it was clear the room had become more...occupied.
"HI!" A chorus of voices cheered from the floor. Everyone froze and slowly turned their heads downwards.
"...Are those...Digimon?" Chizuru asked, a hand clapped over her mouth in amazement. There, on the floor, were six creatures of various colors and shapes. While Momoe had seen plenty of Digimon in the last few months, she had never seen any that looked like the six sitting before them...
"Yes...Chizuru, Dracomon has been looking for you..." One of the digimon, a little blue-green dragon with tiny red wings, crooned, bouncing around Chizuru's chair excitedly, "She-she w-w-waited for you f-for so long..." Dracomon leapt from the ground and towards the blonde girl, who regarded the dragon with a suddenly shy smile. Momoe examined her sister a little more closely and saw that Chizuru was near tears. She remembered the words she, Jun, and Chizuru had spoken earlier that day and suddenly found everything incredibly coincidental.
"What?! Does that mean you're all here...for us?" Aiko asked, staring at the other five. His eyes seemed to be locked onto a purple creature, the Digimon's yellow eyes meeting Aiko's viridian ones. He nodded, then trotted over to where Aiko was and let out something akin to a half growl as he nuzzled against his side affectionately.
"I'm Dorumon, Aiko. I'm so glad we're together now..." He murmured and Aiko's face seemed to brighten considerably. Aiko placed a hand on Dorumon's head and rubbed it, scratching behind his ears and laughing when Dorumon began thumping his foot on the ground as an automatic response.
Momoe watched the four Digimon left, but her eyes could not depart from the bearlike Digimon that sat on his butt, yawning loudly and licking its paws. Before she even registered what she was doing, Momoe had gotten up from her seat and approached the bear Digimon. She crouched down to his eye-level, smiling gently, "Are we partners too?"
"...How did you know?!" The Digimon cried out before flinging his arms around her neck. Momoe was so thrown by the sudden affection she fell on her behind, her newfound partner giving her what only could be described as a literal bear hug. Momoe squashed down the immediate urge to cry, some painful emotion she didn't even know she had making its way from her stomach to her throat.
"I don't," Momoe answered breathlessly, voice cracking slightly, and sat up, shifting the Digimon so he sat in her lap facing her,"What's your name?" She asked, mostly to distract herself from the sudden onslaught of tears that threatened to make themselves a reality.
"I'm Bearmon!" Bearmon introduced himself cheerfully, then threw himself around Momoe's torso again and immediately fell asleep. Momoe bit back a chuckle and a sob, continuing to hold Bearmon to her chest like a very large teddy bear. She looked over to the three Digimon who had yet to pair themselves off. The Digimon that looked like a dog approached Kaori first.
"Kaoooooooooori-chaaaaaaan!" She howled, sounding like she was about to cry at any moment, "I-I can't believe I found you!" Much to Momoe's (and probably everyone else's) surprise, Kaori had begun to wail, arms around the Digimon's neck and face buried in her white-gold fur.
"I've always wanted a Digimon! And...and now I have you! This is awesome!" Kaori's voice was muffled into the Digimon's neck, and the Digimon began crying as well, "You and I are gonna be best friends and all of that other sentimental crap everyone keeps going on about, okay?" The dog Digimon nodded. (Momoe would have found it particularly sweet, had Kaori not referred to sentimentality as 'crap'.)
"Good day, Jun-san. I am Hyokomon," Hyokomon, the little yellow bird, bowed down to Jun deeply, then drew the sword on his back, "I swear upon my blade; I will ensure your safety." Jun crouched down to Hyokomon's level and she looked over him in appraisal. There was a moment where Momoe swore she saw Jun gazing at Hyokomon in admiration. That passed quickly, because a second later, the teenager was smirking.
"I don't know...you're gonna have to be pretty quick on your toes to keep me safe," She teased the bird. Not grasping the joke, Hyokomon sheathed his sword, saluted Jun, and nearly twittered,
"I will accept this challenge!"
"I guess that leaves us, huh?" Shuu asked the bee Digimon that had begun hovering by his head. The bee hovered a bit higher before dropping on Shuu's head, all six legs lazily sprawled downwards like huge, fuzzy yellow dreadlocks.
"Ya think? I mean, we are the only ones left." She (and that surprised Momoe, who was so sure that the bee was male) snarked lightly, "Or maybe my partner is somewhere else, Shuu." Shuu looked alarmed and a little disappointed, but the bee laughed, "I'm just yanking on your leg. Of course we're partners, how else did I know your name?"
"...That's a little disturbing, actually. How do you know our names?" Shuu asked curiously, "It's obvious that we don't know yours, anyway."
The bee lifted one of her front legs in a sweeping gesture that Momoe took as satirical, "I am Fanbeemon, and I exist to cater to your every need. Well, no, not really. Just to keep you safe, mostly, Shuu." Shuu opened his mouth but Fanbeemon cut him off, "And I don't know how I know your name. But that's kind of how this thing, being a human's partner Digimon, works, right?"
The answer didn't seem to satisfy Shuu, but Jun dropped a hand on his arm and he relaxed, "Wait-" He started again, much to everyone's amusement and exasperation, "Doesn't everyone with a partner have one of those funny machine-things?" Momoe realized that Shuu was right. Miyako definitely had one, she remembered seeing it clipped to her sister's belt all the time, "Maybe something went wrong?" Shuu continued, then rambled on about why the funny little machines hadn't come with their Digimon.
"Uhhh, Shuu-kun..." Jun began tugging on Shuu's sleeve childishly when the computer behind him began to glow. Shuu didn't notice, "Shuu-kun..." Jun repeated a little louder and tugged a little harder. Shuu kept speculating out loud (Maybe we don't need them? No, no, that can't be right...), too enraptured with ideas to pay attention to his girlfriend, "Shuu-kun!"
"Yes?" Shuu asked, finally realizing that Jun was talking to him.
"Look at the computer behind you!" Jun shrieked. Shuu turned around to see what was going on, just in time for six 'funny little machines' to fly out and smack him right in the face, sending Fanbeemon off his head and crashing into the floor. Kaori exploded into laughter, nearly doubling over in her maniacal glee.
"Oh man, that was awesome! I wish we could have that on rewind, and repeat, and rewind..." She chuckled and easily ignored Jun's death glare, much too happy with the turn of events that came about. When she finished laughing, Kaori looked at small objects that had collided rather lovingly with Shuu's face. She picked one up and examined it, turning it over in her hands and shaking it gently, "It seems safe..." She concluded unsurely. The back of the device had a sort of bracelet attached to it and Kaori slid it onto her wrist where it sat comfortably.
"That's a Holy Device, or Digivice," Hyokomon explained, "It is the mark that proves a bond between a human and a Digimon." As per his unspoken suggestion, the Digivices were passed around. Momoe took one when Chizuru passed it down to her and dropped it in her book bag instead of donning it much like Kaori had. Something about the little machine made Momoe uncomfortable, giving an almost foreboding feeling with what had to be done with it.
"Yeah, but I'd rather not have to worry about 'holy' stuff," Bearmon grumbled from in her arms, seemingly feeling her tension, "I just want to take a nice long nap and relax...maybe grab a snack...do the things worth living for!" He lifted his head up at Momoe and she smiled at him warmly, "Speaking of snacks, when we get home, can I have something to eat?"
Momoe had to hold back her laughter, warmth pooling its way into her stomach and settling her solar plexus down pleasantly, "I'll cook anything you want tonight," She agreed. Bearmon gave a loud 'whoop' in glee. Momoe could keep her laughter in, but not the sudden urge to hold Bearmon even more securely to her. Bearmon snuggled into her embrace and promptly fell asleep. Gazing down at the bear in her arms brought a thought to her, "Why did this happen at all?"
Everyone, who had been caught up with their own partners just moments ago, fell silent (except Bearmon, who had begun snoring lightly. Momoe thought it was adorable, but perhaps she was already being biased). It was Chizuru who theorized, "...From what Miyako told me, she got a Digimon partner when the Digimon's world-"
"Digital World," Dracomon corrected softly. Chizuru blinked then continued on, amending her sentence,
"Digital World -sorry- was in danger. Do you think something is wrong again?"
"This soon? That last mess Daisuke and the others had to go through only ended three months ago! The Digital World must have some messed up characters to need saving every few months," Jun joked, but Momoe could hear the sombre timbre in her tone. She was worried, which Momoe thought was perfectly normal for Jun to be. Up until this moment, all any of them (even Shuu, in college) had to worry about was school. But the fate of a world quite possibly rested on their shoulders! Momoe couldn't imagine fighting for the sake of a world, much less two...
"...Maybe we should ask those people you keep talking about?" Aiko suggested, "If they know more than we do, then they should know why this happened." He looked down at Dorumon, who had begun rolling his skateboard across the room in merry wonder and leaping excitedly when it ran into a wall, "I don't mind-I already think Dorumon is pretty cool, and I'm glad to have a partner-but I'd still like to know why."
"I agree," Shuu concurred and pulled out a cell phone, "I'm going to message my brother and see what he has to say." Following his lead, Jun pulled out her cell phone to send a message to her own brother. Hyokomon bounced up and down, flapping his wings wildly in the hopes of staying up to see what Jun was typing out.
"Nee-san, should we tell Miyako?" Chizuru asked Momoe, a D-Terminal in her hands and a message across the screen ('Digimon came to school! Nee-chan and I have partners!) ready to be sent. Momoe half shrugged, half nodded and Chizuru pressed the send button, just as the lunch bell rang.
"Huh, who would have thought so much could have happened in less than thirty minutes?" Aiko said, grinning wryly while scooping Dorumon up into his arms. The purple wolf-fox like creature looked miserable being held up under the armpits (...did he even have armpits?) and dangling helplessly, "I know you don't like it, but think of how I'm gonna look bringing a Digimon to school? You gotta be inconspicuous," Aiko apologized weakly to his partner.
"Okay...but I really don't like this..." Dorumon whined, only to squeal in delight when Aiko stood on his skateboard, still carrying Dorumon in his arms, "I take it back! I take it back! Let's go riding awayyyyy," He singsonged. Aiko chuckled at Dorumon's sudden change of heart.
"Well, this means I'll be seeing you guys more often," He said in regards to the others, "Should we meet after school to figure more of this out?"
"Yeah. Let's meet at the front gate?" Chizuru suggested and everyone nodded. Aiko gave Chizuru a thumbs up and skated out, clamping a hand over Dorumon's mouth when he cheered at the rolling movement.
"I'll see you after school, then," Shuu kissed the top of Jun's head (Kaori gagged loudly behind them) then gathered Fanbeemon under one arm, "If we can't use the computer lab, I live in an apartment nearby with my older brother. We can all meet there, too." He added and left as well, leaving all the girls together. Momoe, still cuddling a snoozing Bearmon in her arms, stood up with her book bag in one hand.
"So I'll see all of you after class?" She asked and was answered with three heads nodding simultaneously. Heaving Bearmon higher up in her arm, Momoe trekked out of the computer lab and headed to her next class. Her schedule said it was Literature, but that sounded more fun than staying behind to clean up the papers in the computer lab.
Shuu waited outside of Odaiba High School, watching the crowds of students rushing to get home pushing past the gates in a massive stampede. He could hear the bright giggles of first year girls who hadn't seen each other since they were in elementary school and the grunts of young men too cool to admit they had missed their friends.
Luckily for him, now that he was no longer inside the school grounds, Fanbeemon could hover at Shuu's ear instead of pretending to be a stuffed animal. Other than an occasional second glance his way, none of the students seemed to be shocked at the Digimon who seemed to be torn between resting on the tall man's head or just floating next to it. What she did seem to have settled on was heckling students as they walked past, "Hey! Get a move on! There's no time for you to socialize! Study! Study! Study!" Shuu didn't think she was doing the best job when a boy flipped her off as he was ran past them. What happened to manners? When Shuu was that age, only delinquents were so blatantly disrespectful. (Was he getting old that fast?)
"It is odd, though," He sighed pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose in agitation. Fanbeemon, who was currently perched atop Shuu's head, hummed her wings in curiosity, asking him to continue without words. That in itself, the already strong bond that revealed itself within the last few hours, was a whole other phenomena that Shuu had spent quite some time pondering before the more pressing question came to mind, "Aren't we-and I mean all six of us-too...well...old? There's a reason Jyou and the others are called Chosen Children," He posed the question in hopes of his partner having an answer.
Fanbeemon had other priorities, apparently. Namely, her balance on Shuu's head as someone had just run into him from behind, thin arms wrapping around his waist, "Hey! Watch what you're doing!" Fanbeemon warned, forearms up and trying to look threatening. Shuu looked behind him to see a head of spiky red hair and he relaxed.
"Jun-san! It is improper of a young lady such as yourself to display such public affections!" Hyokomon chided behind them and when Shuu turned around to greet Jun face-to-face, the little bird was bouncing about frustratedly. Jun immediately scooped Hyokomon up in her arms and cuddled him, much to Hyokomon's obvious consternation, "Jun-san! This! Is! IM-PRO-PER!" He cried out, struggling out of Jun's arms and back onto the ground.
"Oh wow," She giggled with a cheek in her palm, "All the Digimon in the world, and I get the one who wants to defend my 'ladylike honor'. Boo," Jun turned to face Shuu and kissed him on the cheek, "The others haven't come yet?" She asked. Shuu shook his head, too busy trying to connect the words 'Jun' and 'ladylike' to each other to speak. Was that even possible?
He had come to the conclusion that it wasn't when Momoe and Bearmon arrived and Jun raced to hug Momoe. Hyokomon raced after her, still rambling about proper behavior for a young woman of stature such as herself (She was a lady of high honor!). Behind Momoe was Kaori and Labramon and Shuu waved at them awkwardly, shoulders collapsing when Kaori only gave him a curt nod in response.
His thoughts were interrupted when Chizuru and Dracomon came up beside him and waved candidly, "So we're still waiting for Nomura-san?" She asked, surveying the people around them. There was Jun, Momoe, Kaori, Chizuru, and himself...
"I think so. You don't think he got lost, do you?" Shuu suggested, only to be proven wrong when the boy rolled past the gates, Dorumon clamped onto his back tightly and screaming his head off. The boy stopped abruptly with a quick turn of his skateboard when he spotted them standing there and waved.
"Hi," He greeted casually, stepping off the wheeled apparatus, Dorumon hopping onto the floor beside him.
"Aiiiikkkooo," Dorumon cheered (Oh thank god, Shuu thought. Ihadn'tbothered to learnthat guy's name earlier), "Let's go again!" He tugged at Aiko's olive pant legs. Aiko picked Dorumon up then dropped him on the skateboard himself without a second thought. Dorumon began rolling away helplessly towards the bushes, which he immediately toppled into, "That wasn't what I meant..." He whined.
"When we go home, okay?" Aiko snickered, pulling Dorumon out of the bushes and pulling twigs out of his fur absentmindedly. He reminded Shuu of his own mother for a moment, always fixing up his clothes and straightening them out if anything was amiss. When Aiko seemed pleased with Dorumon's cleanliness, he turned his head to the others and asked, "So are we headed back inside?"
"Actually, I think we should go to the park," Jun said, "My brother sent me a message back-apparently the others want to meet us." She held up her phone and Shuu saw Daisuke's lazily typed out message on the screen. How did Jun manage to decipher the illegible code her brother had sent her? And why didn't Jyou send him a similar message, as well? Shuu couldn't help but feel slightly miffed that his own brother responded to his message of sudden 'Chosen-hood' with a short 'WHAT?!' then failed to reply to any of Shuu's other texts (Texts full of questions about said sudden Chosen-hood, which would have been quite helpful, if answered at any point in time).
Then again, Jyou started high school too, Shuu had to remind himself. He was probably busy and would probably be there at the park with the others. It was only the first day of school, it couldn't be that busy for the youngest Kido brother. But texting related travesties aside, going to the park sounded like a good idea. It would be helpful to get a grasp on what was going to come.
"Let's go, then," Shuu agreed. The others nodded and they began the short trip to the park.
As if it were natural, Jun and Shuu took the lead, with Hyokomon just behind them and Fanbeemon perched atop Shuu's head. Shuu turned back to hear Momoe and Chizuru telling their partners about their younger sister and her own partner. Taking the rear, Aiko and Kaori were laughing at Dorumon's attempt to ride Aiko's skateboard while Labramon kept up with the purple creature's pace. Shuu turned back to Jun and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, ignoring Hyokomon's protests. Jun turned around and stuck her tongue at her partner before wrapping her own arm around Shuu's waist.
The park came into view at the same time Shuu got a text from Jyou. 'I can't meet with you guys today, I've got cram school-we can talk tonight. Sorry, Shuu-nii-san!' Shuu chuckled to himself. Jyou was already busy? Shuu sent a message back, telling Jyou to meet him at his place tonight, then looked up to see eleven kids and their Digimon scattered amongst the playground equipment. Shuu spotted Daisuke and V-mon seated at a swingset, the former of the two leaping off and screaming,
"Nee-san! Onee-chan!" Daisuke raced past Shuu and to Jun and Kaori, arms waving in the air wildly, "You're both Chosen Children! That's so cool! Where's your partners? Are they strong?" Kaori laughed brightly, hooking an arm around Daisuke's neck and tightening it playfully. She dragged the younger Motomiya down to the ground and in the direction of Labramon.
Shuu turned his head from the Motomiyas to the other Chosen Children, the older meeting the newer. Everyone seemed to be integrating themselves well, though Shuu assumed it was because each of the newest Chosens were related to one of the older (..."more experienced" was more fitting, in Shuu's opinion) ones. Momoe and Chizuru were already with their sister, just as Jun and Kaori stood in a circle with Daisuke. Shuu himself had Jyou (and he already knew a few of them), though he wasn't actually there. But...wasn't there someone else?
Ohhh...right. Aiko, Shuu realized after taking the time to count everyone. He watched the green haired teen, who stood by himself awkwardly. Nearby him was the youngest of the bunch, though neither seemed to pay the other much attention.
Shuu had become so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice a red-headed boy sit back down on a bench with his laptop until everyone else was crowded around him. The boy, Koushiro, was opening a gate to the Digital World-wait, what?!
"We're going to the Digital World already?!" Shuu cried out and Fanbeemon smacked him in the ear with one of her legs.
"What are ya, scared?" She taunted. Shuu glared up at Fanbeemon, then smirked, shaking his head. Everyone around him had their Digivices held up to the screen expectantly. Shuu lifted his Digivice before the screen and that was when Koushiro asked him,
"Would you like to do the honors, Shuu-san?"
Shuu grinned hard, a surge of energy moving to his fingertips like a familiar friend, "Digital Gate, open!"
She remembered a time when there was light, when the world was able to discern between right and wrong. That was long ago.
"It is time to restore the Digital World to the natural order."
"This is the natural order. You cannot comprehend what your actions will bring about!" The Digimon before her countered.
Her face twisted into a snarl, "You are a fool to think the Digital World was meant to be this way." With a flash of light and a swift strike, the guardian Digimon crumpled to the floor at her feet before dissolving into data. All that remained was the Digimon's Holy Ring. She picked it up, feeling power coursing through her fingertips.
"Yes," She examined the ring with a scrutinous glint in her eyes, "it is time."
So the school year in Japan generally starts April 1st, hence the time setting. And I know that Chizuru is supposed to be the same age as Taichi, Yamato, and Sora but for the sake of this plot, I aged her up a year...it's not like anyone actually notices the ages of minor characters anyway...maybe.
I'm not sure about how I feel about this. I mean, I feel like it was too exposition-y because I had to introduce everyone and their partners, as well as give a good impression of each character's personality. Ugh. Oh well.
So uhh...read and review and stuff. Thanks.