The storm had been continuing nonstop for nearly an entire week. The clouds have been heavy and dark, blanketing over the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, Japan. Night and day became indistinguishable.
The lightning flashed and nearly struck a nearby tree in front of a two-story bakery, followed by the sound of crackling thunder. On the second floor, a young boy jerked awake, screaming in terror and horror. He frantically looked towards the window of his small bedroom, noticing the lightning off in the distance. Raindrops hit his windowpane hard, occasionally leaking through the cracks. Tears fell heavily from his face, mixing with the sweat droplets that were dotted across his cheeks. His red eyes were bloodshot and his brown hair messy. His heart pounded hard against his chest from that terrible nightmare of what happened in the digital world.
His hands shaking, Takato Matsuda lifted the blankets off his bed and walked over towards the window, placing his hand on the cold surface of the glass. The clock on his bedside table read 4:00 a.m. He felt an excruciating pain in his chest from his heart pounding hard, as well as the thought of remembering what his nightmare was about. Vivid images played throughout his mind of losing his dearest friend.
Although Takato was only eleven years old, he was considered one of the best digimon tamers in the digital world. However, nearly four months ago, a terrible bio-emergence occurred where a digimon from the digital world crossed over into the real world. Takato and his digimon partner Guilmon, became involved with this situation when a black Guilmon crossed the boundaries to step forth into the real world. The black Guilmon tested his strength against Takato and his Guilmon, and succeeded. As a result, the black Guilmon deleted Guilmon's data and absorbed as energy for him to grow stronger. Since then, Takato kept himself locked away, rarely ever going outside to visit his other digital tamer friends. His goggles that he used to always wear sat in the dresser drawer next to his bed; he never wore them since the incident, as they serve as a constant reminder of that dreadful day.
Takato's friends had almost completely abandoned Takato since Guilmon's deletion. Painfully, Takato found out a week after the battle that they were only his friends due to Guilmon's power. He overheard their conversation near the Shinjuku Park where the portal to the digital world was located. He remembered it all too clearly. Takato was walking home from school that day and when he saw his friends with their digimon partners, he hid himself behind the bushes nearby in fear that they would laugh and make fun of him for losing his partner in a state of weakness. Both Rika and Henry were there, as well as Renamon and Terriermon.
"You know, since Guilmon is gone," Rika had said, "Takato is weak now. I don't think he's even worth it anymore."
"I agree with you, Rika," Henry said. "I only admired him because he and Guilmon both seemed really powerful. He's too weak."
"I think he's worthless," Rika had said heartlessly. "I don't even wish to see him. He is such a disgrace to the digital world."
Takato's face swelled with tears as he ran away from the park, feeling more heart-broken than ever before.
However, the only one who was truly his friend was Renamon. She may have been a bit heartless at first glance, but unlike her tamer Rika, she truly cared about others' well-being. She was a tall and slender yellow vixen with purple gloves that contained the yin and yang symbol near her fingertips. Her fur was slick and smooth that glistened in the sunlight. She had occasionally visited Takato during the night when everyone was deep in slumber to provide emotional support for Takato. The first time she visited him, Takato was shocked and couldn't understand it; she was powerful and like Rika, she admired other peoples' strength.
"Strength isn't just physical," Renamon would say to him every time she visited him, "it's also emotional. The fact that you were emotionally attached to your partner Digimon shows that you are strong both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, the others cannot see this like I can."
Even though he knew that Renamon was right, he still could not let go of seeing everyone whom he trusted to just leave him in his misery.
He suddenly heard a soft thump against the floor behind him. Takato sighed and closed his eyes, trying to squeeze the tears out.
"Hello Renamon," he said very quietly to where it would have been impossible for a human to hear. However, Renamon, her yellow and white fur glistening in the moonlight, walked over and placed her paw on his shoulder for comfort. She towered over him, standing at nearly six feet in length whereas Takato was only about five feet.
"I could hear your scream," she said in a deep and soothing voice. "You know that I have very sensitive ears." She chuckled slightly.
However, Takato knew what Renamon's reason was for visiting him nearly every night. Throughout his and Rika's travels together through the digital world, Renamon had developed some sort of kinship and bond with Takato that she had with Rika, but it was stronger somehow. Rika never knew about this, for if she ever found out, she would grow a strong hatred for Takato. She already loathed him for having a strong digimon like Guilmon as his partner and she wished nothing more than to grow stronger than Takato. Even Renamon, at one point in their travels, admitted to Rika that Takato was stronger than she was, and that she originally wanted to be Takato's digital partner instead.
"I know it was the same nightmare as before," Renamon said quietly. "You have had this very same nightmare every night since the incident."
Takato didn't say anything; instead his tears spoke for him. He fell to the floor and began to cry hard once more. Renamon bent over and embraced him into a hug. "It was that same nightmare… but different," Takato said through the hiccups and his tears. This time I,… this time I was… also deleted…" He couldn't finish; he broke down again. Renamon, acting like a mother, tried to do what she could to comfort him. She held him tightly in her arms as he cried into her shoulder, staining her fur with his tears. She understood the terror of that part of his nightmare, for she had the same nightmare as Takato. However, her nightmare began where his ended and she ended up dark digivolving. She put that thought aside, for she understood that Takato needed her more than ever.
"Do not worry, Takato," Renamon said in her soft and soothing voice. "I will protect you. You have my word." She nuzzled him as he stuffed his head into her mane.
Takato dried the tears from his eyes and looked up at Renamon. "But… you're still Rika's partner…"
"Do not worry," She replied mysteriously. "I have overheard Rika's conversation earlier today." She closed her eyes and Takato heard a low rumble in the back of her throat out of anger, but she shook it off. "She… told Henry that she didn't want me as her partner anymore… she wanted to switch me with another digimon because she apparently knew that I was visiting you to provide emotional support."
Takato suddenly became enraged, forgetting for a moment as to why he was upset. "How could Rika do that?" he asked in anger. "After everything that you have done for her… has she forgotten all the times you have saved her life?"
"She is only acting out of jealousy and rage towards you," she said. "I do not understand the complexity and how influential human emotions can be. But I know that Rika may not mean what she said. However, I can sense that she may not trust me anymore."
Takato shook his head, the tears forming behind his eyes again. "That is horrible for Rika to do just out of jealousy for me!" He clung onto Renamon even more tightly, feeling a series of mixed emotions of sadness and anger. He felt enraged at Rika for treating Renamon the way she has been. Besides Guilmon, Renamon was his best friend. However, his heart was torn between the loss of his friend and to perhaps ask Renamon to be his partner instead.
Takato blushed slightly at that thought and tried to hide his face from Renamon so that she wouldn't see. However, even in the dark, he knew that she saw and she chuckled slightly.
"I may not fully understand human emotions," she said jokingly, "but I do understand what it means when a human blushes. Are you embarrassed by something? Perhaps a thought?"
Takato didn't reply immediately; instead he only blushed more and Renamon burst out into laughter. The two of them exchanged glances instead of words, their gazes locked upon each other's. Takato began to feel better, but started to feel worse at the same time. He began to hate himself for the way he felt about Renamon. He was still upset about losing Guilmon and his heart would forever be scarred with what happened. In contrast, his wounds began to heal, not immediately, at the thought that at least there was one other person who would still like to be his friend. At least with that, it was enough.
Takato stood up and walked over to his bed. Before he went to sleep, he wished Renamon a good-night before he passed out onto his pillows and sheets. Renamon smiled as he drifted off into slumber and whispered those words right back to him. She walked over to the window and was about to jump out, but something stopped her. She turned right around and walked back over to where Takato lay. She brushed his hair aside his face with a gentle stroke of her paw and lend over to slightly kiss him on the cheek.
Outside of Takato's house, the bushes rustled across the street after Renamon jumped out of the window and ran over towards Rika's house. Some sort of figure popped out of the bushes, its details undefined in the shadows. The moonlight glistened through the trees and revealed a tall figure wearing nothing but a black cloak to conceal their identity. Two others stood off to the side behind the trees as to not be seen.
"The Renamon partner continuously visits the tamer," the first growled under its breath, the voice sounding masculine. "I believe that she may know what is wrong with the boy."
"He was the one who defeated our true enemy," the other replied. It walked over to where the first stood and looked up at the window. "This tamer is the strongest out of all of them. The female only seeks power; the other is too naïve. The loss of this tamer's digimon has proven his true strength."
"He would have to be our only hope for the task that we have for him," replied the third figure. "I cannot trust any other human to do this, for only a human can accomplish this task. If all goes according to plan, the Renamon partner of the human named Rika will join forces with the boy and together they will do what we say."