Author's Notes:
*Again, this is set in an original universe, so all of the characters are OCs.
*Some OC Digimon will appear, but most will be official.
*Honorifics are also used, (-san, -kun, etc.), though common Japanese phrases (eg. itadakimasu) will be in English.
*If you like it or think it needs work, please leave a review.
01: Those who stand for justice! Kindramon is born!
Footsteps echoed throughout the room as a figure approached a floating orb near the opposite wall. As the figure drew close, a hand extended to touch the orb. It lit up, and three screens appeared before the figure with symbols scrolling past at a rapid rate. A few moments later, the screens vanished and the orb went dark again. The figure turned and exited the room.
An alarm clock began to beep, but within a few seconds a hand descended on it and it fell silent. A pair of legs swung from the bed, and approached the wardrobe on the opposite wall. Pajamas flew across the room to fall onto the bed as their owner, a girl with long blonde hair, finished pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
The girl walked over to the foot of the bed, snatching a pair of goggles from the bedside table as she went. Along the same wall as the bed was a long window. The girl pulled the curtain open partway, and grimaced. Rain fell into the street below, from a grey sky.
Yanking the curtain shut again, she pushed the goggles up onto her head, flicked her hair out of the way, and grabbed a backpack from her desk as she left the room. Shutting the door behind her, she walked down a short hallway and into a larger room. To her left was a sofa and lounge chairs, facing a TV which was currently playing the news. To the right was the kitchen, and in the far corner past the TV area was a dining table, currently occupied by an older boy in uniform.
As the girl drew closer, the boy glanced up and frowned.
'What is it?' The girl demanded, stopping just short of the table.
'Oh it's you, Seira,' the boy's eyes widened in disbelief. 'I thought a boy must've snuck into the house.'
Garbled words tumbled from Seira's mouth as she fixed the boy with a glare, while he took another bite from his toast and gazed back in vague amusement.
Wrenching her gaze from the boy, Seira pulled back a chair, grabbed a piece of toast from the stack on the table, and began coating it in jam. As she began to eat, she shot the boy another glare.
After a few minutes, a woman hurried out from the same hallway, carrying a large bag. 'Good morning,' she said as she spotted the pair at the table.
'Good morning,' they answered back.
'I'm going to leave now,' the woman continued, 'so whoever leaves the house last, remember to lock the door; it's been left unlocked three times this week now. I really don't want this to continue.'
'It was Kouhei-niisan,' Seira said with another glare at the boy. 'He's a lazy bum.'
'No, it was Haruto,' the boy argued through a mouthful of toast.
'Well, whoever it was, make sure the door is locked this time,' said the woman. 'And Seira, if soccer isn't on today, I want you back here to do some studying.'
'But Mum-' Seira groaned.
'You're in grade 5 already, Seira,' her mother stated. 'Soon you'll need to start preparing for junior high.'
'That's over a year away…' Seira muttered to herself, as their mother vanished down another hallway just past the dining table. Within a few moments, she had reappeared and was heading for the front door. 'I'll see you two later on, okay? I'm going now.'
'Have a safe trip,' the other two answered.
As Seira reached for a third piece of toast, a door slammed shut. Another boy a bit younger than Kouhei appeared, wearing the same uniform and carrying a schoolbag. 'Morning,' he said.
'Did you sleep in again, Haruto?' Kouhei asked. 'Wake up early for a change, so Mum's not after me about the front door all the time.'
'Huh?' Haruto gave him a look, and Seira rolled her eyes.
'Because she was out here blaming me for leaving it open, when you always sleep in and leave last,' Kouhei continued.
'But you're always watching TV when I leave,' said Haruto.
'Yeah, well, just get up earlier next time, okay?' said Kouhei, who then snatched Seira's third piece of toast out of her hands. With a squawk of 'Kouhei!', she lunged across the table and grabbed it back, leaving Kouhei holding a torn piece between his fingers.
'I'm going now too,' said Seira as she stood up and shoved the toast in her mouth.
'Make sure you lock the door this time, okay?' said Kouhei.
'Lock it yourself!' Seira yelled back.
'Huh, why?' Kouhei asked, as Haruto gave him a pained look.
'Figure it out!' Seira shouted as she slammed the door behind her. Grumbling to herself, she marched down the hall in the direction of the lift.
As Seira left the building a couple of minutes later, she glanced up at the sky again and sighed, before putting up her umbrella and setting off down the street.
'Akito, it's after eight already. Get up!'
At the sound of his mother's voice, the boy Akito rolled over and glanced at the clock. Alarm flooded his face. Within minutes his bedroom door flew open and he was tearing into the kitchen where his mother was holding some toast and a large bento.
'Thanks, Mum,' he said as he took them from her.
'You're welcome,' she said. 'Hurry now before you're late again!'
'I will,' he said, heading for the door.
'And remember your umbrella, it's raining out there.'
'Thanks Mum, I'm going now!'
'Have a safe trip.' Akito's mother sighed as the door shut behind her son.
As Akito raced down the street with toast in his mouth, Seira had already arrived at her school. With a resentful look at the main building and the grey sky behind it, she headed inside to exchange her sneakers for indoor shoes at her locker, before heading upstairs. The hallways were crowded with students sheltering from the rain; some were carrying umbrellas while others were soaked. Seira exchanged greetings with a few people as she headed to her classroom, but as she drew close, her eyes widened. A dark-haired boy in a blue hoodie was heading towards her. As her face shifted into a glare, the boy's eyes settled on her, and a glare crossed his face as well. As they swept past each other, Seira glanced back in the boy's direction, but he kept walking.
Several people were already clustered around desks when Seira arrived. After saying hello to a couple, she went over to her desk, which was right next to the window, and put down her bag and umbrella.
'Morning, Ryouta,' she said to the boy in the next seat, who was scribbling on a piece of paper.
'Morning,' he answered with a sullen look.
'The weather's bugging you too?' Seira asked.
'Well, yeah, but actually… it's those Maths questions from yesterday!' Ryouta burst out. 'Seira, can I look at yours, please?'
'I don't think you want to do that…' Seira said with a grimace.
They continued talking to each other; and to other classmates who came in for a while long, until the bell eventually rang.
'This is the end for me…' Ryouta moaned.
Akito was pounding down the hallway as the bell sounded, sending a panicked look across his face. Rounding a corner, his panic increased as he spotted his teacher approaching the classroom from the other direction.
'Well Matsumura-kun,' she said as he drew close. 'It looks like you've reached the classroom before me this time, but try and be a bit earlier next time, okay?'
'Thank you, Sensei!' Akito called out as he dashed into the classroom ahead of her, and flopped down into a seat near this window. A couple of boys closer to the entrance smirked at him.
At 8.30, bells everywhere rang with the start of a new school day. But amidst their sounding, down in the streets, something changed.
'Ryouta, would you stop sighing already?'
Seira and Ryouta were at a table in the cafeteria, along with another boy. Due to the weather, all the tables surrounding them were crammed full.
'But my Mum's going to kill me for this!' Ryouta protested.
'You want my Mum instead?' Seira gave a dark look.
'…Okay, okay,' Ryouta glanced down at the meat bun in his hands and then up at the other boy.
'Don't look at me like that; you know what I'm like with that stuff,' he said with chagrin.
'Oh, behind-' Seira began, when a third boy sat down between Ryouta and the second boy, and put his arms around their shoulders.
'Good morning! You all look so-'
'Oh shut up, Kazuya,' the second boy gave him a push, and he fell backwards off the bench.
'Are you okay, Kazuya-kun?' a girl, who was just behind them hurried forward to help him up, but before waiting for a reply, snapped to the other boy, 'That was awful Shinichi, you could've really hurt him!'
'If he wants to hurt me, he needs to try harder,' Kazuya declared, as he stood up and moved to the other side of the table.
'Guess you're lucky it's pouring today, then?' said Ryouta with a glance at a nearby window.
'I've been thinking though…' Kazuya deliberately rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, before glancing down at the occupants of the table, 'it might be fun if we tried playing in the mud for once.'
At his words the table exploded into of exclamations and stifled laughter, when above them thundered the voice of the other girl: 'That's just gross, you should be using this time to catch up on studying!'
The noise instantly died into a gloomy aura, as four sets of eyes turned to stare at her. 'Natsumi, did you have to bring that up?' Shinichi asked.
'Of course, it's for your own good!' Natsumi retorted.
'She's like your Mum, isn't she?' Kazuya muttered to Seira, who rolled her eyes.
As Akito's class broke up into groups to go and eat lunch, the two boys headed over to his desk, clutching bread rolls, and pulled up a couple of chairs. 'Nice save there earlier, Matsumura,' remarked one of them.
'I think that's the closest one yet,' added the other.
'Don't remind me,' Akito grumbled as he reached for his bag.
'Aw, don't be so boring, Matsumura,' said the first boy as he unwrapped his roll. 'Not everyone has your talent for that stuff.'
Akito, who had been pulling his bento from his bag, froze, and gave the boy an injured look.
'Hey, don't take it personally,' said the second boy. 'You know he's only messing with you.'
'I guess so,' Akito remained focussed on unwrapping his bento, and didn't look up at them. As he removed the lids, the other two boys stared at their contents. It was a two tier bento, brimming with a wide range of foods: fried chicken, shrimp, egg, sandwiches, salad, fruit, rice, and more all beamed up at them.
'She always gives you so much,' said the second boy.
'She never listens when I ask her not to,' Akito sighed.
'Must be 'cause you're so short,' muttered the first boy, while the second boy stifled a snigger.
'Don't say that!' Akito said, pulling a face.
'Okay, okay,' said the second boy, 'we were thinking of going to the arcade later, you want to come?'
Akito's face brightened and he nodded through a mouthful of fried chicken. The boys were forced to stifle further snickering.
As school ended for the day, and the hallways became crowded with chattering students, Seira and Ryouta headed to the class next door. There they were joined by Shinichi, while at the next classroom, Natsumi and Kazuya stood just inside the door arguing. It was only when Shinichi began dragging Kazuya back out the door that they could finally keep going.
As the bell rang at Akito's school, his two friends exchanged smirks, and snuck out of the classroom amidst the other students. Akito was giving a textbook an uncertain frown, when he sighed and pushed it into his backpack along with several other books. It was only then that he glanced up and realised the classroom was almost empty. With a garbled yell he snatched up his bag and umbrella and rushed out of the classroom.
Out on the school grounds, the two boys slowed to catch their breath, and broke into snickering. 'Oh I can't wait to see his face tomorrow,' said the first boy.
'You could always go back up there,' the second boy offered.
'You kidding?' The first boy gave him an incredulous look, when a voice broke through their conversation.
'Ah, wait for me!' Akito burst from the school building and sprinted in their direction.
'Aw crap, run!' the first boy yelled, and bolted towards the gate. The second boy followed close behind. Students jumped out of their way, and continued to stare as they hurried through the gate, turned and continued down the road, with Akito still yelling.
'What are we running for? I thought we were going together!'
'Now what are we supposed the do?' exclaimed the first boy.
'This was your plan to begin with!' the second boy yelled back.
The road continued unbroken along the exterior of the school, until it reached a number of houses. To the boys, the footpath was clear of any obstructions. And yet there it was, just before the end of the school's fence line.
'Come on, say something already!'
'This guy just doesn't quit,' the first boy grumbled.
'Let's go through that alley,' the second boy decided. 'Then we can hide in one of the shops over there.'
'You could've said that earlier,' said the first boy, even as both of them ran straight through that spot on the footpath.
'Just shut up and run!' the second boy retorted.
'Why won't you answer me? Come on! Just stop it already!' Although breathing hard, Akito continued after them, towards it.
'Sounds like he's broken,' the second boy commented.
'The guy's a moron, everyone knows that,' the first boy stated.
'Yeah… I guess.'
'I just wish he'd shut up and go away.'
'Uh, you know he stopped yelling a minute ago?'
'Oh, I guess he finally- huh?' the first boy glanced over his shoulder, and then stopped running.
'What?' The second boy stopped running, and joined him in looking up the street. Puzzlement creased his face.
There was no sign of Akito anywhere in the street.
After saying goodbye to Ryouta at the school gate, Seira and the others continued down another street in the opposite direction. After a few minutes of walking, the road branched, and Seira said goodbye to the other three before taking the left fork. As silence fell around her, she sighed and made a grimace, scuffing at the ground with her feet as she walked. Over time, the buildings around her grew taller, and shifted from houses to stores and apartments. Eventually, she crossed a road, and headed down an alleyway next to a convenience store. She didn't realise one of them was in the alleyway until she walked straight into it.
The middle of the three screens lit up, and symbols began appearing across it. Finally, at the bottom, several larger symbols appeared, and began flashing.
Seira's eyes widened as the alleyway, and the ground beneath it vanished into a blur of colours, shapes and symbols. Strange whirring, buzzing, beeping and other noises echoed around her with no obvious source. As she attempted to take everything in, her surroundings went dark, before abruptly reappearing, and shifting away towards the left, dragging her with them. Suddenly, the whole scene broke apart and as Seira's feet landed on solid ground, she stumbled forward a few steps before regaining her balance.
It was then she realised that she was now standing in grass, but as she stood up properly to view her surroundings, a flash of colour by her feet caught her eye. It was a rectangular device, with curved edges, like some bizarre communication device, or child's toy. In the middle was a small screen, enclosed in a black circle, which itself was inside a red ring, with wave-like shapes protruding towards either end. Three triangular buttons, white like the main body itself, sat below the screen.
Seira stooped down again to pick it up, but as she touched it, the screen lit up. Pulling her hand away again, she watched in uncertainty as a symbol like the Kanji Ki (木), appeared on the screen, but with the two diagonal strokes being straight, and connected by another horizontal line along the top. A few moments later, the symbol disappeared, and was replaced by text:
"Welcome to Digivice ver. 2.0 – D-Core."
Frowning at it, Seira picked it up, and then stood up again. But as she did, the Digivice emitted a series of high-pitched beeps, and the text shifted to the words, "First Runtime Wizard". Within moments, they too were replaced by a grid covering the whole screen. In the middle of the grid was a red dot, and a short distance above it was a flashing yellow dot. With each flash, the Digivice gave a beep.
Seira looked up at her surroundings, to find a hill sloping upwards in front of her, and mist obscuring anything beyond several paces. She began moving up the hill, and, glancing down at the Digivice, she found that the yellow dot was moving closer to the red one. Within a minute, the yellow dot was almost overlapping the red one, and a hunched over shape on the ground ahead of her jumped up, and began making odd movements.
As Seira drew closer, the shape changed into a short boy with orange-brown hair, who seemed to be brushing something off of his arms with one hand, and covering his nose with the other. At the sight of her however, he froze, with a panicked look on his face. Next to him lay a large backpack and a Digivice like Seira's, except that the red part was in yellow.
Despite his apparent anxiousness, Seira smiled slightly at the sight of another person. 'Hey, do you have any idea where this place is?' she asked.
As she spoke, the boy appeared to relax. 'I don't know,' he said. 'I… I was just running down the street from school, then there was all this stuff flying around, then I was here.' He glanced away with an awkward look, and rubbed at his nose again.
'That's what happened to me!' Seira said. 'This is just weird; nothing makes sense.' She scuffed at the ground with her foot.
The boy nodded at her.
'Still, we should probably look around and see if anyone's here,' Seira continued. 'There has to be a reason for this.'
'Yeah,' the boy nodded again, then seemed to remember something, and continued, 'I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Matsumura Akito, fourth year.'
'I'm Kawakami Seira, in fifth year,' Seira answered.
The grass rustled in a light breeze, and the mist shifted as they began heading up the hill. 'Akito,' Seira glanced sideways at the boy, who was touching his nose with one hand, and holding his yellow Digivice in the other, 'Is there something wrong with your nose?'
Alarm crossed Akito's face, and he looked away from her. 'I… fell on it,' he muttered.
'You fell…?'
'When I appeared here.'
Seira recalled the strange space without gravity, then glanced at Akito and had to stifle a laugh.
'D-don't laugh at it!'
'Okay, okay, I'm sorry,' Seira attempted to calm him down, and then pointed at the Digivice she was holding.
'So, what do you think these things are? When I picked it up, it said something about a "Digivice".'
'Is that an English word?' Akito asked.
'I don't think so…' Seira grimaced.
Akito seemed disappointed at her answer, but his face suddenly brightened, and he said, 'Then maybe there's some secret organisation around here, maybe under this hill, and this is their top-secret super invention!'
Seira gaped at him in surprise.
'It's not like any of this makes sense anyway!' Akito declared.
Seira began to pull another face, when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see a dark shape rising out of the mist. 'Hey, there's something over this way,' she said as she began moving in its direction, 'let's have a look.'
'Maybe there's someone there?' Akito wondered.
As they drew closer, the dark shape took the form of a hedge. A bit taller than Seira, it was grown from a tangle of vines, yet trimmed into the shape of a wall. Branches could be seen poking over the top, through the mist.
'Weird,' Seira gave the hedge a frown, then placed her hands on the top, and attempted to push herself a bit higher.
'Can you see anything?' Akito asked.
'Nope,' she let go again. 'Let's see if this works,' crouching down, she began pushing aside the vines.
'Seira-san, should you really do that?' Akito asked. 'What if the owner catches you?'
'Who knows if there is an owner,' said Seira, 'besides, who knows how far the gate is in all this.'
As she spoke, the vines she was pushing through began to distort, and with a gasp she withdrew her arms. 'What…?' she began, but before she could finish, a tall gate remained in the place that moments ago was occupied by vines.
'But that was just a hedge before…' Akito stared at it. 'This is just- wait, you're still going in there?' he asked, as Seira pushed the gate open.
'Yeah, I'm going to find out what's going on here,' she told him with a questioning look.
Akito returned her look with uncertainty, before sighing and following her through the gate.
As Seira let the gate shut, they both stared around at the sight before them. Compared to outside, the mist was much thinner, and drifted across the grass in smaller wisps. Off to the right stood a stone windmill with a thatched roof, though the sails were currently still. The heavy doors, framed with wood were also shut. Higher up the building, a number of small windows could be seen. Around the mill, clusters of trees and bushes were scattered, some sporting flowers. There was one cluster near Seira and Akito, while a much larger number grew further back, about level with the back of the mill. It could've been considered almost normal, except for the eggs. Large, and covered in patterns and colours, they lay nestled amidst the plants in large numbers. Beside her, Seira noticed Akito take a step forward, towards the closest group.
'They're called Digitama.'
While Seira and Akito had been staring at the eggs, they hadn't noticed the windmill's door come ajar, nor figure now approaching them slip outside. Although it appeared to be a woman, her skin was an odd shade of grey, which seemed to blend into the surroundings. She wore a dark bodysuit with a skirt that seemed made up of strips, and around her neck was a scarf, which then entwined around her arms, to cover her hands. Her black hair fell across her back in waves, and her face was obscured by a mask, but through the eyeholes, dark pupils could be seen.
'I'm sorry for surprising you,' she said while approaching them. 'But I'm glad you're finally here. There isn't much time left.'
'What are you talking about?' Seira gave her a puzzled look, when flashing caught her eye, and she glanced down at her Digivice to see the words "First Runtime Wizard" displaying again. Akito was staring at his Digivice in similar confusion. As Seira glanced back at hers, a hologram appeared to expand outward from the original screen, and a picture of the woman appeared along with a bunch of text. With a frown crossing her face, Seira began to read it out.
'"Shadowmon. Adult Level, Data Attribute, Bewitching Shadow Digimon…" what is this thing?' she trailed off and glanced up at the woman.
'That's just the analyser program reading my data,' the woman, Shadowmon, stated, 'but we can discuss that later. Right now, you need to find your partners' Digitama so we can leave here.'
Seira and Akito glanced at each other, and then back at her. 'Can't you explain this first?' Seira asked.
A frown crossed Shadowmon's face, but a moment later, she said, 'There is an enemy coming here who wishes to capture you, and it is my job to take you and your partner Digimon to a safe place. It is with the help of your partner Digimon that we intend to fight against the enemy. Their Digitama were sent here in order to protect them from the enemy, but they have found out. I don't know which ones they are, just that they're mixed in with the other Digitama, but as their partners, you can probably find them.'
Despite her explanation, Seira's expression was still filled with uncertainty, but Akito glanced back at the closest group of Digitama, and said, 'I think mine's one of those.'
'Wait, you think all that's real?' Seira demanded as he headed towards the Digitama.
'It's this egg,' he crouched down and pointed at a dark grey egg, covered in blue lines. 'I don't get it, but it somehow feels familiar. So maybe this whole thing is real.'
Without waiting for her to answer, he reached out and touched it, but then gasped and jerked his hand back.
'What is it?' Seira asked, moving over to him.
'It moved,' he said. 'I don't know how to describe it, but I think it knows.'
Seira just stared at him with raised eyebrows, when she heard Shadowmon behind her again: 'So girl, since your friend has found his partner, could you find yours as well so we can leave?'
'It's Seira, not girl,' she retorted before stomping away, leaving Akito staring after her with a disheartened look.
Casting glances around at nearby Digitama, Seira wandered past the windmill, and then crouched down in front of a few Digitama resting in some ferns. Their vivid colours and intricate patterns were unlike any egg she'd ever heard of, to the point of being alienating. She glanced over her shoulder to see Akito had picked his Digitama up, and was looking in her direction. At that she stood up, and marched towards the far line of trees, that seemed to border the area. There too, Digitama poked from between the plants, showing of their colours to the world. With a resentful look, Seira bent over and reached towards a bright red egg with gold spots.
And then she stopped. Her head turned, and although it was a few metres away, something seemed to gleam at her from amidst the plants. Seira's body straightened, and her legs carried her to where it lay. Crouching down again, she pushed some shrubbery out of the way and stared at it.
The Digitama was a bold blue, except for the maroon dashes covering its surface. It may have seemed no different to any of the other Digitama, and yet in Seira's eyes it stood out far more than any of the others, as though it radiated with a light only she could see. In spite of herself, something in her chest seemed to throb at the sight of it. Her hand began to extend, and as it touched the shell, something inside shifted, causing her to catch her breath.
'So you found yours after all?' Seira jumped at the voice, and turned to find Akito standing behind her, clasping the grey and blue Digitama in one arm, and holding the yellow Digivice in his free hand. Behind him, Shadowmon was also approaching.
'Yeah,' Seira's mouth twinged with a smile and she pushed her Digivice into her pocket, grabbed her own Digitama and stood up.
'So, you're both sure you have the correct Digitama?' Shadowmon asked with a look at Seira.
'Yes,' Seira returned her gaze.
'I am too,' said Akito.
Shadowmon opened her mouth to speak again, but as she did, her eyes fell to Akito's feet. As Seira followed her gaze, she noticed the ground he was standing on was blurring and shifting.
At that moment, shrill beeping pierced the air, and Seira and Akito glanced down at their Digivices to find the word "DANGER" covering the screens. It quickly changed to a flickering red screen with arrows pointing to the centre, before the word "DANGER" reappeared.
'W-what is…?' Akito looked up at Shadowmon, only to find her leaping at him. A moment later he gave a cry as the Digivice flew into the air, where it spun for a moment; before it, and he, also blurred, and disappeared.
'What was that?' Seira demanded. 'You… you're an enemy too, aren't you?' Gritting her teeth, she took a step back towards the plants.
Shadowmon spun on the spot and lunged at Seira, who cried out and jumped backwards. But before Shadowmon could reach her, the scenery distorted and gave way to an array of symbols, shapes, and flashing colours. After a moment, everything went dark, and quickly reappeared, before dissolving into a paved alleyway, sandwiched between two buildings.
As her feet came in contact with the ground, Seira stumbled and fell backwards with a yelp; the Digitama landing in her lap. But before she could groan at the pain, her eyes fell on what occupied the space she had just fallen out of: shifting, distorting shapes and colours; shrunken and transparent, yet still visible. As she stood up again, Seira glanced back down the alleyway, then sidled around the strange mass and hurried through to the other side.
With a sigh, Seira pulled the door shut behind her. 'I'm home…' she said, but there was no answer. After pulling off her shoes, she set her bag and the Digitama down on the dining table, threw herself onto the sofa, and turned the TV on. The noise blared into the room, assaulting her ears as she lay still, watching people scurry about on screen. She had been lying there for a few minutes, when she became aware of a gnawing sensation in her stomach. As she got up and headed for the kitchen, her gaze passed over the Digitama on the table. In the kitchen, she grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry, and began pouring them into a bowl, when a new noise reached her ears, jostling with the TV. She glanced up in time to see the Digitama roll on its side, and vaporise into a pale lump.
Without another glance at the chips, she hurried over to the table, and stared at the creature now sitting where the Digitama had been. A bit smaller than a soccer ball, its body was bluish-white, and consisted only of it blob-like head. A pair of small black spikes stuck out above its grey eyes, and its ears were wing-like streamers. As its eyes fell on Seira, it shuffled away slightly, and began emitting high-pitched rasping noises.
It could have almost been considered cute, and Seira's mouth twitched at the thought. Then something else sprang to her mind, and she pulled the red Digivice out of her pocket. She pointed it at the creature, which yelped louder than before, then held the Digivice in front of her again, and pressed the middle button.
The holographic screen expanded from the Digivice, and within moments a picture of the creature appeared, along with text.
'"Hatchmon. Baby I Level, Slime Digimon. Its special attack is "Smokey Stream"…' Seira trailed off and glanced up. Wisps of smoke were trailing from Hatchmon's mouth, and its face was creased into an unmistakable frown.
Seira's eyes widened, and the place where she was standing suddenly emptied. Within moments, she sitting backwards at the sofa, watching the creature from over the backrest. With a snort in her direction, Hatchmon began a shuffling bounce, and disappeared behind Seira's bag.
With a chagrined look at the spot where it vanished, Seira gave a groan and let her chin fall on to the backrest. 'Geez,' she muttered. 'What do you want to attack me over…?'
Only silence met her question.
'Fine,' she got up from the sofa, 'I'll just have to show you.'
As she went past the table, there was a squeak from behind her bag. But as she moved away again, Hatchmon peered out from behind it.
Back in the kitchen, Seira pulled a bowl out of a cupboard, then took a bottle of milk from the fridge, and poured some into the bowl. She then picked up the bowl, and approached the table again, but as she did, Hatchmon squeaked and hid behind her bag again. As more smoke began to trail from its mouth, Seira put the bowl down on the table nearby, and backed away.
After a moment, Hatchmon shuffled out from behind Seira's bag, and stopped in front of the milk. Its cheeks puffed up, and another frown crossed its face. Suddenly, it leant forward, opened its mouth, and lapped some of the milk into its mouth. Then moments later its face scrunched up, as it spat the milk from its mouth, and with a whine it disappeared behind her bag again.
Seira watched the whole incident with her mouth hanging open, and groaned as Hatchmon vanished again. 'Come on,' she approached the table again, 'what's wrong with-'
But before she could finish her sentence, a loud trilling filled the air, prompting a yelp from Seira's bag. She turned around to find the phone ringing nearby, and hurried past the table to answer it.
'Hello? This is Kawakami.'
'Seira, it's me,' Haruto's voice crackled from the receiver. 'Can you go check something for me?'
'Yeah, what is it?' With her back turned to the table, Seira didn't see Hatchmon peer from behind her bag again.
'I think I left this English book on my desk,' Haruto continued. 'Some of my friends wanted a look at it.'
'Okay, I'll have a look,' Seira hurried down the hallway next to where the phone stood. As she opened a door and headed inside, Hatchmon dropped down from the table, and bounced away in the other direction.
Soon after, Seira emerged from the room with a pained look. 'How long will you be?' she asked.
'Oi, you know it's just up the road from your school, that's where we always study,' Haruto told her.
'You sure you can't do without it?' emerging from the hallway, she cast a glance at the table, and her face froze.
'No, they're going to be-'
'Okay, I have to go, see you.' Seira hung up before he could finish, and rushed to the table. Hatchmon was no longer anywhere on it. A crunching sound met her ears, and she looked up in its direction. Leaving the phone on the table, she moved over to the kitchen's entrance to get a proper look. Her face froze, with her mouth falling open. At the far end of the bench, Hatchmon sat in front of Seira's now overturned, and almost empty bowl of chips.
Seira took a couple of steps towards it, the same stricken look on her face, making strangled noises that died before forming actual words. Hatchmon looked up at the noise, and puffed its cheeks at her again. Then after a moment, its eyes seemed to bulge as well, and with a squeak its body erupted with light.
Seira gasped, and froze where she stood. The light obscured Hatchmon's body, yet through the glow, zeroes and ones could be seen flickering across its skin, and then disappearing. After a moment, its body began to lengthen; a long tail sprouted from one end; stubbly legs, the front pair being smaller than the back, grew from the bottom, and from the other end grew a long snout. Finally, the light seemed to shatter away from it, leaving behind the changed Hatchmon.
Now the shape of a lizard, it was the length of a small cat, and pale blue in colour, aside from its white underside. The black horns had grown slightly, while the wing-like ears had shortened. A small pair of flaps had also grown on its back.
'What, why…' Seira walked over to it. Attempting to gather her thoughts into a sentence, she finally said, 'Did the chips do that…?'
Hatchmon fixed Seira with a frown, and opened her mouth. 'Of course,' she answered in the voice of a young girl. 'It's evolution, isn't that obvious?'
'You can talk?' Seira exclaimed. 'Then why were you just making noises before?'
'Because I couldn't talk until I evolved,' Hatchmon continued to frown at her. 'It's because I'm a newborn.'
'A newborn what?' Seira gaped at her.
'Digimon, obviously,' Hatchmon stated. 'What else is there?'
'What's a Digimon?' Seira recalled Shadowmon, as well as her red Digivice, using the term, but still hadn't found the meaning.
'It's short for Digital Monster,' Hatchmon was giving her a very strange look. 'How can you not know that? Aren't you a Digimon too?'
'No, I'm a human,' Seira told her.
'Human…? So those actually exist?' Hatchmon asked her.
'I'm standing right here…' Seira gave her a strange look in return.
'According to the General Knowledge Database, humans are only a rumoured existence; no one's ever seen one before,' wonderment seemed to enter Hatchmon's voice. 'Then where is this place?'
'Tokyo…' Seira offered.
'That's a strange name,' Hatchmon frowned at it. 'Where is it located? Or is that the name of this world itself?'
'It's in Japan. On Earth.'
'It must be separate from the Digital World, then,' Hatchmon thought aloud.
'Digital World…?' as Seira repeated the name, the garden of Digitama, and the strange space of shapes and symbols sprang back into her mind.
'Human, is this Tokyo a safe place?' Hatchmon asked.
'Yeah, and my name's Seira, not human,' Seira told her.
'I see. I suppose you don't know, Seira, since you're a human, but I am called Kleinemon. I may stay here for the time being, until I evolve again, since the Digital World can be a dangerous place.' As she spoke, she jumped down from the bench again, and trotted past Seira.
'You know, it isn't just me living here,' Seira turned and watched as she continued heading towards the table. 'I don't know what my family will think of you.'
'Family?' Kleine stopped, turned to face her, and then sat up on her hind legs. 'What's that?'
'You know, mum, dad, siblings…' Seira trailed of as she saw the puzzled look on Kleinemon's face wasn't changing. 'They're the other people who live here, okay? I don't think they'll want you here.'
'I can't just leave, though,' Kleinemon frowned, 'if I went to the Digital World now, I wouldn't be able to protect myself.'
Seira remained silent for a moment, before saying, 'You can stay in my wardrobe then; there's lots of room and they don't usually go in there.'
'So you're thinking of hiding me from them?' Kleinemon's eyes widened.
'Yeah, what's wrong with that?'
'That's not very honest; you really should tell them about something so important.'
Seira stared at her in disbelief, and then said, 'You know, Digimon or whatever don't appear here. They'll just think you're talking lizard or-'
As the words left her mouth, Kleinemon's frown deepened, and her cheeks puffed in a manner similar to when she was Hatchmon. 'Don't you dare call me a lizard! I am the infant dragon Digimon, Kleinemon! If you'd rather hide, then I'll explain everything to this "family" myself!'
And with those words, she turned and jumped back up onto the dining table, yet at the sight of the phone sitting nearby, backed away a few steps in alarm. After a moment, her expression shifted into resolve, and she took a few steps towards it, then lowered her head, ran at the phone and began pushing it towards the edge of the table.
'What are you doing?' Seira hurried towards her.
Kleinemon stopped and looked up at her. 'I'm getting rid of this awful thing before it makes any more noise,' she stated.
'Then let me take care of it,' Seira grabbed it from the table, and returned it to the main unit. 'And it's just a phone, what's awful about it?'
'I don't care if it's a phone, just don't let it make that noise again,' Kleinemon insisted, with a desperate edge in her voice.
'You know you're making a lot of demands considering your situation,' Seira made a grimace at the wall.
'Only because so many things here need to be sorted out,' Kleinemon stated. 'Like this white stuff,' she flicked her tail in the direction of the milk. 'You can get rid of it as well.'
'Hey, I put that "stuff" out because I thought you were hungry,' Seira retorted as she strode back to the table. 'Why'd you eat my chips instead?'
Kleinemon appeared to consider her words, then said, 'Thank you for considering me then, but that stuff is too cold to drink.'
'Oh,' Seira stared at her in surprise for a moment, and then picked up the bowl. 'Right, I'm heating this up then,' she said as she went back into the kitchen. 'And you're going to drink it all this time.'
'I'll decide that for myself,' Kleinemon declared, and lay down next to Seira's bag, as Seira herself made a dark face.
Seira pushed a few buttons, and watched as the milk revolved in the microwave. Kleinemon continued to gaze in her direction. Within a couple of minutes, Seira was putting the bowl down in front of Kleinemon again. 'Okay, try it now,' she said.
Kleinemon cast a pouting look at Seira, which she then directed to the bowl of milk instead. She continued glaring at it for a few moments, before lowering her head, and lapping some into her mouth.
'So how is it?' Seira asked.
Kleinemon's directed her attention down to the table. 'It's fine,' she muttered. 'Thank you.'
Seira's face shifted into a slight smile. 'Well, good,' she gave a sigh. 'I'm getting some more chips then,' she said as she headed back to the kitchen. With her back to the table, uncertainty flickered across her face again.
As she opened a new bag of chips, and put one in her mouth; Seira looked back at Kleinemon, who was still lapping up the milk, before her gaze shifted back to the TV. Within a couple of minutes, Kleinemon had finished the milk, and reared up on her hind legs to get a look at the TV. But as she did, her eyes widened, and her lips pulled back into a snarl.
'I can sense a killing intent,' she said as she glanced around the room. 'I think there's a hostile Digimon nearby.'
Shadowmon's face flashed through Seira's mind, and she dropped a handful of chips back into the bag. 'Looks like we can't run away anymore,' she thought aloud. 'Where is it then?' she asked Kleinemon.
'Just let me outside and I'll find it,' Kleinemon retorted.
'Right,' Seira headed back to the table, and attempted to pick up Kleinemon.
But as she reached out towards her, Kleinemon shuffled away, and gave her a fierce look. 'I can walk myself!' And so saying, she dropped off the table. Seira gave her a frustrated look, before going to the door.
The street below seemed devoid of any life, but without hesitating, Kleinemon darted across the road, Seira following behind her. 'It must have come through this thing,' Seira pointed at the strange portal, from earlier. 'Then why isn't it-'
As she spoke, she took a step forward, and a wire that was strung across the alley snapped against her leg. A plastic bag plummeted to the ground, engulfing them in a cloud of white.
'What the heck is this stuff?' Kleinemon spluttered through the powder.
Seira screwed her eyes shut, and coughed for a few moments, before rubbing some of it together in her fingers. 'Looks like flour,' she said, before coughing again.
'What sort of idiot would put a bag of flour up there?' Kleinemon demanded.
In response, laughter erupted from the other end of the alley. '"What sort of idiot?" Haha! If only you could see your faces.'
From the far street, a figure stepped into the alley. It could have been a human child, except for its pale blue skin, devil tail, and red claws protruding from its fingers and feet. It wore navy boots, black pants, and wristbands, and a black mask covered its entire head, with the exception of its large mouth, which was stretched into a wide grin. Two eyes, with vertical pupils, one red and one green, were printed across the mask, and two bat wings curved over its chest, and were joined by a pendant.
'I should've guessed it was you,' Kleinemon clenched her teeth. 'Only one of you could come up with something as pathetic as this.'
'No it's not! You just don't understand how great my pranks are!' the Digimon jumped up and down, waving his arms in the air. 'You must be jealous,' he nodded to himself.
Seira stared at him in bewilderment for a few moments, before pulling out her Digivice and pushing the middle button. A picture of the Digimon appeared, along with information:
"Dracmon. Child Level, Virus Attribute, Undead Digimon. Its special attacks are Undead Fang and Eye of Nightmare."
'As if anyone would ever be jealous of you,' Kleinemon retorted. 'What are you even doing here anyway? This place isn't the Digital World.'
Dracmon gave her a smirk, and answered: 'Shadowmon-sama has requested I bring her that human,' he pointed at Seira, whose eyes widened.
'And you think I'll just let you do that?' Kleinemon's body tensed.
Dracmon grinned at her. 'There's no way you can stop me, you're just a baby.'
Kleinemon bared her teeth in silence and then spoke: 'Even if I am smaller than you, I won't let you do as you please. Because I have to uphold justice!'
As the words left her mouth, she launched herself forward, dodging around the portal, and charged down the alley towards Dracmon. Even as she drew close, the grin on his face didn't falter. Instead, he hopped backwards a few steps out of the alley, and a snarl covered Kleinemon's face.
Eventually, he came to a halt in the middle of the road. Kleinemon's eyes narrowed in resolve, and as she drew close, she drew a deep breath. 'Rauch-'
Dracmon sprung aside, and as Kleinemon landed where he had been standing moments ago, her body was propelled across the road, and hit the wall on the other side. A can then tumbled down, and coated her in bright red paint.
'What-' Seira gaped at Kleinemon's still form, and then turned to Dracmon. 'What did you do to her?'
'It's just oil,' Dracmon shrugged.
'You…' Seira fixed him with a glare.
'So what?' Dracmon asked. 'Do you think you can do better?'
'Just watch me,' gritting her teeth, Seira ran at him with a clenched fist. But as she swung at him, he jumped away again. She threw another punch at him, but he dodged again. This continued a few more times, with the pair moving further down the street from Kleinemon. Frustration spread across Seira's face, and her punches became increasingly sloppy.
Suddenly, Dracmon thrust a hand behind his back, and as he pulled it back, something yellow fell to the ground. Seira glanced down at it, but before she could realise what it was, her body had already slammed into the ground. The Digivice spun from her hand, and stopped a short distance away.
'Damn it…' she muttered, pushing her body up with her arms, but as she did, Dracmon loomed over her.
'Goooot you,' he grinned. 'You're coming with me now!'
He thrust his outstretched hands into her face, revealing an eye in both of his palms. 'Eye of Nightmare!' he yelled.
Numbness flooded Seira's mind, and spread down throughout her body. As the world around her disappeared, her body collapsed back onto the ground.
With a cackle, Dracmon rubbed his hands together. 'Shadowmon-sama will be so pleased with me! I can't wait-' he trailed off as something caught his attention. Seira's Digivice was emitting flashes of light, and its owner's body began to twitch.
Fixing it with a frown, Dracmon strode over to it. 'Don't interrupt me!' he yelled, and kicked it towards Kleinemon.
'Now then,' he hurried back to Seira, who had stopped twitching. 'You look pretty boring. Let's make you pretty for when I take you to Shadowmon-sama. Sit up!'
Seira's arms pushed down again, and she righted herself into a kneeling position. Her expression was devoid of her earlier anger.
Dracmon pulled a marker from behind his back, took off the lid, and began scribbling on Seira's face. 'Done!' he yelled after a few moments. A jumble of swirls, scribbles, thick eyebrows, moustache and huge smiling mouth now covered her face.
'I think it's a big improvement,' he cackled. 'Now come on, let's get back to the Digital World already.'
Standing up, Seira followed him back down the street towards the alley. Kleinemon raised her head as she saw them approach.
'You damned scum,' she hissed. 'I won't let you-' as she spoke, she attempted to stand up, but slipped in the oil and fell back onto her stomach.
'You have fun there!' Dracmon cackled and waved at her as they drew close.
'I said… I won't let you…' Kleinemon panted, and her body appeared to ripple. She reared up on her hind legs again, and her body erupted with light.
'Kleinemon, evolve!'
Dracmon froze, and stared as Kleinemon's body shot upwards, to become almost as tall as Seira. Her hind legs grew longer, and more solid, and claws grew from her feet. Her front legs became arms, and also grew three shorter claws. The wings that hand only been flaps on her back before also became more developed. Her head however remained the same: reptilian, with a long snout, and small horns on her head, just below her streamer-like ears. As her body finished changing, the light burst away from her, revealing her body to be a bold blue colour, except for her front, snout, and the underside of her wings and tail, which remained white.
'Kindramon!' she yelled.
As her transformation finished, Dracmon snapped from his paralysed state. 'Quick! Back this way!' He grabbed Seira's hand and tried to pull her towards the alley. 'Come on, hurry!'
Kindramon cast a dark look in his direction, and then shifted her attention to the oil surrounding her. 'Kleines Feuer!' she shouted, and flames burst from her mouth, catching the oil and spreading across the entire puddle, engulfing it in fire. Even as the flames grew higher than her head, Kindramon stepped out from them, smoke drifting from her skin.
With a glance Dracmon, who hadn't moved very far, she grabbed Seira's Digivice from where it lay, and ran after them. Dracmon gave a strangled shriek, and bolted for the alleyway, leaving Seira where she stood.
As Kindramon reached Seira, she thrust the Digivice at her chest while still running, and then turned back to Dracmon. Crouching down on the ground, she then launched herself into the air, with one leg pointed at Dracmon. 'Kleines Drache Kick!' she yelled as she crashed down onto his back.
Seira blinked and shook her head as the scene before her came into focus. Clutched in her hands was the Digivice, from which a white glow was fading. Before her, a tall creature similar to Kleinemon stood over the crumpled figure of Dracmon.
'What? You…' she stammered, and Kindramon turned to look at her.
'Don't worry,' even her voice had deepened to that of a girl in her early teens. 'This wretch won't cause any more trouble,' she glanced down at Dracmon.
'So you "evolved" again then?' Seira asked her.
'Yes, I am called Kindramon now,' Kindramon told her. 'Though I suppose that device of yours can tell you that too.'
Directing her attention back to the Digivice, Seira pressed the middle button, and the screen filled up with information:
"Kindramon. Child Level, Vaccine Attribute, Small Dragon Digimon. Its special attacks are Kleines Feuer and Kleines Drache Kick."
'Damn you scum, get back here!'
Seira looked up to see Dracmon sprinting in the direction of the portal, Kindramon close behind. She hurried after them, but Dracmon was already disappearing into the swirl of colours, shapes and symbols. Kindramon stopped as she reached the portal, scowling at it.
'So are we going back in there?' Seira asked.
'I am, yes,' said Kindramon. 'But you will stay here.'
'What? No! I want to beat him too!' Seira protested.
'He was after you,' Kindramon stated. 'Therefore, it would be better if you stayed here where it is safe. Besides, you'd just get in the way. You're clearly not strong enough to fight him. He easily hypnotised you before, and he'd probably do it again if you came with me.'
Seira gaped at her in silence, as a burning feeling seemed to engulf her mind.
'Thank you for looking out for me earlier,' Kindramon continued, 'but I doubt we will see each other again. And remember to clean your face when you go home. Goodbye then.'
With those words, she stepped into the portal, and vanished from sight.
Seira took a step forward, and froze in place. Her fists clenched, and her teeth gritted. But despite her gaze fixed on the portal, she didn't take another step towards it.