"You can't, you can't! There's absolutely no way you can!"

Mirai Watanabe drew herself up to her full height, not that much below the third-year captain's, and looked him in the eye. "I can too! I already have all my equipment," she pointed to each in her bag in turn. "Face plate, chest plate, wrist guards, uniform, shoes, practice sword. And even a wooden sword for practicing my forms. So, please let me join the kendo club already!"

"I said no and I mean no!" The captain folded his arms. "There's no way a girl will ever be able to do kendo."

She shot a look at the club sponsor, hoping for some backup, but he only waved a hand. "The boys have to start practice now, Mirai-chan, so maybe you could try again tomorrow?"

"Don't encourage her, teacher," the captain muttered.

Her look turned into a glare, and with a huff, she tossed her bag over one shoulder, storming away. As she exited the school grounds, the storming turned into a trudge down the sidewalk to the bus stop. She had so hoped that things might have been different once she entered middle school, but here she was on her last year and still no luck. And getting into the high school club was going to be even worse. "This is the worst day ever," she sighed. Around her, the mundane sounds of the cars on the road and the breeze through the cherry trees continued without so much as a pause, drowning her disappointment in their mundaneness.

At length, the bus trundled down the road, and she took a seat toward the front, tucking her bag under her seat. Tuning out the mundaneness of the afternoon commuters getting on and off, she fiddled with her phone, checking on her online games. It didn't take long before that, too, failed to entertain, and she turned her attention to the scenery passing by outside.

Fukuoka was such a new city, she thought, staring listlessly at the Western-style buildings they passed. So modern, so Western, it was as if a tiny piece of Tokyo had been dropped among the rice patties that still littered the outskirts of town, where she and her mother lived. Maybe she would go out to the mall, or just take a walk after she dropped her bag off, she thought as she dug her goggles out of her bag, putting them in their familiar place around her neck, dangling around her collarbone. It'd help cool her head.

The bus came to a stop, hard enough to jolt her forward, and she got to her feet, the sounds of confused passengers around her. "Everyone calm down!" the bus driver called from the front. "I'm calling headquarters now."

Now curious, Mirai hopped onto her seat, peering over the heads of the adults. It only took a moment for her to understand the sudden confusion and alarm around her, and to catch it herself.

Ahead of them, Fukuoka had been ruined. The road which had only been repaved last year was half-broken, half filled with weeds. The modern buildings's big, open windows were now smashed or boarded up, with not a light on as far as she could see. A thick mist blanketed it all, concealing any movement or signs of life. Mom! "Excuse me, sir!" Mirai shouted as she snatched her bag. "I'm getting off here!"

"Ah, little girl? I don't really think you should-"

"Filial piety calls!" she shouted, pushing at the doors until they opened, bolting into the mist.

There was no sound inside the mist, only the sound of her breath and the harsh pounding of her feet against rock and concrete. It was thick enough to where she couldn't see more than a few feet ahead; even so, the mist swirled in unpredictable movements, as if things were lurking just beyond her sight. There were no road signs, and even the landmarks didn't look the same. Was she going to even be able to find her house?

Counting her steps and the number of streets - the only clue she really had - she ran until she almost slammed into a crumbling wall, that of the side of an apartment complex. Her apartment complex. Bolting up the outdoor stairs, she paused and looked over the railing, peering into the fog.

In the thinner air, the shapes below were clearer - she could make out the heads and torsos of men(?) in gas masks and something akin to biohazard suits, but with spikes on their rubber helmets. And some of them were carrying guns. Guns?! Mirai gasped in surprise, then ran for her door, all but flinging herself inside.

In stark contrast to the ruined, foggy atmosphere outside, the inside of the apartment was perfectly normal. The same old sets of shoes by the door, the same old pictures on the walls, the same old smells of a rice dinner coming from the kitchen. Grimacing as she fought with her shoes to get them off, she shouted toward the kitchen, "Mom?!"

"Yes, dear?" Her mother's voice sounded calm, normal.

She extracted her bamboo sword from her bag, as well as a strap-on sheath that fit around her torso. A frivilous purchase that made her feel more powerful at the time, now surprisingly useful. "Uh, Mom, don't go outside," she said as she all but hurled the bag back into her room. "There's some weird guys outside, so lock the doors and definitely don't go out."

"Some weird guys? Should we call the police?"

The police! Mirai grabbed for her phone, but there was no signal showing. The hallway phone returned no dial tone, either. This is bad, this is bad. "Uh, I already called them! Look, just stay inside, whatever you do!"

"Mirai-chan? Are you going back out again?"

"Gonna check on Rina-chan!" She slammed the door shut behind her, hoping her mother would comply. Tucking her phone into a pocket, she leaned over the railing again, taking a look below. The suit-clad strangers didn't seem to have taken any notice of her, but a few had turned toward the stairs, making their way toward the building at the same pace as the rest. "Oh, no you don't," Mirai said, drawing her wooden sword as she made her way to the stairs.

The first of them was just coming to the stairway entrance as she reached the bottom flight, bringing the sword around to point at his face. "Don't take another step!" she ordered. "This place is off limits."

They turned their heads to look at each other, and then turned back to her. A couple of them raised their guns. With a yelp of surprise, Mirai jumped off the back end of the staircase, landing in the bushes below. No shots came, and she peered out from her foliage base. The creatures were making their way toward the staircase again. "I said stop!" she shouted, taking a downward swing at his head.

To her surprise, the man folded like deflated rubber, leaving nothing but a suit in place. She stared in horror, but the gun-toters were already raising their guns again, and the fear of being shot prompted her forward, striking first one way and then the other, sending the guns dropping to the ground. Now she was in the middle of them, and she used all the muscle behind her taller than average frame to swing, aiming for the heads. Rubber suits collapsed around her, until nothing further moved. Out of breath, she looked around, waiting to see if more would come.

They did, emerging from the mists one after the other, like monsters of the sea coming ashore. Mirai held the wooden sword out in front of her, noting that if any more of them had guns, she was in trouble. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one barrel raise to point at her.

Before she could react, hands grasped her from behind, covering her mouth and pulling her back. She tried to pull away, but the grip was too strong to break. I'm sorry, Mom. Going to see Rina-chan was actually a lie.

"Be quiet now; I think she's coming around."

The air in this place smelled cool and clean, but damp, and the lighting was no longer foggy. Sitting upright, she reached for her sword, not finding it in her grip. "Be calm," the voice that had spoken addressed her. "We're not your enemies."

She turned her head, and found herself face to face with a little girl, something like three or three and a half feet tall, dressed like something out of a Chinese history book - a practical but intriciate Chinese kimono and flat slippers, her black hair done up in buns. "I'm sorry about treating you roughly," the girl said. "Are you hurt?"

"She should be, after attacking a bunch of Troopmon by herself," a voice further back said. "Are all humans this crazy?"

"Sh," the girl scolded.

"I'm not hurt," Mirai said. "Where's my sword?"

"I have your sword," another voice said. "Do not worry. It will be returned to your possession, as long as you do not use it against us."

She turned to look at the speaker, and then let out a blink of surprise. The speaker was a kid in a cat costume - more like a lion, really - white with blue armor. "Our apologies for your unpleasant treatment," he said. "It proved necessary to rescue yourself from the Troopmon. Rest assured that you are our guest."

"...Why is that guy in a cat costume?" she asked the girl. "And why does he talk like a samurai?"

"Costume?" the girl echoed.

"Samurai?" the cat said at the same time.

"You'd think the girl'd never seen a Digimon before," the other voice said, and something flapped into view - a bat with a large ground body, all white, big eyes watching her as it hung from the ceiling.

"You've never seen a human before, so pipe down." The girl turned back to Mirai. "Allow me to explain. You seem to be under the impression that we are children in costumes. I assure you, that is not the case. We are all Digital Monsters, as are the creatures you fought."

"Those rubber suit guys were monsters?" Well... it did explain the deflating part. "Okay, so all of you are monsters? What's your connection to what's going on outside?"

The girl-monster?-smiled. "You're surprisingly quick to adapt. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Youseimon. This is my second, Spadamon, and IcePicoDevimon," she pointed at the cat, and then the bat. "You are?"

Youseimon? Like a fairy? "Mirai. Watanabe Mirai."

"Mirai, then. The overlaid atmosphere you see outside is a Digizone - a partial meld between your world, and our Digital World," Youseimon explained. "We can set it back to normal - but we need your help. Will you assist us in restoring your town?"

"That was all you had to say. Where's my sword?"

The cat, Spadamon, walked over to her, holding it out in both hands reverently. "Your sword, my lady."

She slid it back into its sheath. "Okay, let's go."

Youseimon smiled. "Quick to adapt and quick to action, are you? Follow me."

The room they had been in - it had been a cave, just like it smelled - opened into a narrow hallway, short enough to make her worry about hitting her head. "Youseimon!" someone hailed her - this one a red, four-footed, furry creature with a peacock-like tail. "Kokuwamon says the Digizone's stabilized as we expected it might. Is this the human?"

"Yes, the one that fought the Troopmon and survived," Youseimon said with a gesture toward Mirai. "Mirai, this is Elecmon, another of my teammates."

It eyed her askance. "Is it crazy or just lucky?"

"Hey!"

Youseimon let out a little laugh. "Perhaps a bit of both. This way, Mirai." As they walked, Youseimon continued, "The way to separate the Digizone is to take down the control towers. Individually, you and I lack the power to destroy the tower and its guardian; together, we should be able to do it, if you'll enact a contract with me."

"A contract? You want me to sign something?"

"Nothing so formal. I'll give you a bit of my code, and you'll be able to support me in battle. Do you have an electronic device of some kind on you? A computer, a phone?"

She pulled out her phone, handing it over. "This will do," Youseimon said, touching a finger to the screen. It responded by turning red, letting off a glow. "Red, huh," she murmured before handing it back.

"So what did you do?"

"I've loaded a part of my program onto your phone. That should be good enough." The entrance to the cave loomed in front of them, the gray light pouring in aruond the bars that she was pretty sure was a grate. Were they just in the sewers, then? Pausing at the entrance, Youseimon pointed ahead of them. "You should be able to see the tower from here."

She could see the ground slope downwards toward buildings that looked as ruined as the ones she could see so far. In the background, one object did not fit in with the rest of the landscape - a black obelisk towering above the other buildings. "That's the control tower there?"

"You can take that thing down? Cause I don't think hitting it with my sword's going to work."

"They don't call us 'monsters' for nothing. The Troopmon have been spread out, but probably won't attack if we don't initiate the contact. We'll make a run for it. Can you make it that far?"

"This'll be a light jog for me. Let's go." Mirai hopped out of the tunnel's mouth, half-sliding down the slope, Youseimon right behind her. Hitting the base of the choppy concrete, she set off at a run, quick but not so fast that she couldn't watch her footing. "Can you tell which way to go in this mist?"

"Just keep going straight ahead," Youseimon said as she ran beside Mirai, her shorter legs somehow keeping pace. Ahead of them and on either side, she could see the swirls of mist that she guessed were Troopmon, but true to Youseimon's word, none of them bothered coming out to greet them. "We're getting close."

Then just in front of them, the terrifying gas masks turned to look at them, barrels raising from the mist. Mirai let out a shout as she brought the wooden sword out of its sheath and in a straight swing down on the Troopmon's head. It crumpled with a flutter of rubber. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Youseimon launch several needles from her wide sleeves, sending another fluttering. "Keep moving!"

"Got it!" She ran, only taking a swing at whatever came too close, too hyped up on adrenaline to see if they were taking aim at her. In front of her, the fog got thinner, and lifted altogether, leaving them in front of the tower. From far away, it had looked tall, but not nearly as massive as it turned out to be now that it was in front of her. Mirai hoped that Youseimon had more up her sleeves than needles. Like a jackhammer.

"Moooooose!" The bellow came from their right. Mirai turned to see a gigantic blue and white moose bearing down on them. "How dare you, moooose. Strange humans all over my zone, this way and that. How am I supposed to maintain order, moooose?"

"What is that, Youseimon?" Mirai asked, keeping her sword in front of her.

"That's Moosemon."

"I guessed that!"

"Most likely, he's the boss of this area," Youseimon continued. "We'll have to take him down in order to get to the tower."

"Great. And me without my shotgun," Mirai muttered, wondering if anything less than a tank would have an effect on the large creature. Somehow, she didn't think her wooden sword was going to cut it.

"Moooose! I'll have you know that I am not afraid of any of your little human tricks," it shouted at her, turning in her direction. "You are mere grass underneath my hooves!"

"Yeah, well... ...same goes to you, pal."

"Moooose! How dare you!" Its hooves tore into the ground as it charged toward her. Just when she was thinking it may have not been a good idea to taunt the moose, Youseimon placed herself in front of Mirai, launching several needles at its face.

"Left!" she shouted as Moosemon tripped, crashing and skidding toward them.

She leapt, making an awkward but usable landing on the broken concrete. Youseimon tossed another handful of needles at it, but that only seemed to make it more enraged as it charged toward her, headbutting her hard. "Youseimon!" Mirai shouted in alarm, making her way toward her. That little body couldn't have withstood that impact...

But Youseimon got to her feet, looking a little winded but standing without a sign of pain. "Tch. You big oaf," she said to the moose.

"Moooose! How da-"

"How dare I, yes. Are you a Digimon or a broken feedback loop?" She collected a few needles between her fingers, holding them until they glowed. "Sparkle Darts!"

This time, when the needles impacted, they let off small explosions of light, sending the moose careening onto its side. Pulling itself up from the awkward position, it shouted, "Antler Shadows!" The massive antlers on top of its head flashed, sending a pinpointed burst at Youseimon, who was knocked through the nearest wall.

"Youseimon!" Mirai ran to the wall. This time for sure, she was either going to need to prepare first aid, or CPR. Or a coffin.

Inside the half-crumbled building, Youseimon sat up, one hand to her side. "Don't concern yourself with me. I'm tougher than I look. But as I thought, I can't take him alone."

Noise made her turn back to the outside. Moosemon was getting up, turning toward them again. "He's coming."

"I know. It's your turn this time, partner. Time to show me what you've got."

"Eh?!" She turned back toward the moose. "I need a rocket launcher for that, not a wooden sword!"

"No, not that. Use the D-Tai," Youseimon said, wincing as she got to her feet. "Focus the power of your human emotions through the D-Tai. Send me your power. Now come on!" she shouted as Moosemon began charging. "Show me that red, burning passion of yours!"

Time seemed to slow. Mirai pulled her phone out, cradling it in both hands. She thought about the city, about the places in it that she liked, of the people in it that she cared for. My classmates... Mom... And then she thought about the tiny figure in front of her that was fighting so hard to protect it.

In her hands, the phone began shining a red light, and Youseimon's skin took on the same glow. "That's more like it," she said as she pulled out another set of needles, which took on the same red glow. "Burning Sparkle Darts!"

They streaked toward Moosemon like fireworks, engulfing him in a burning red that was impossible to avoid. A surprised, enraged cry of "Mooooooooose!" could be heard from the inside, and then the light faded, leaving nothing behind.

"You got him?" Mirai asked, leaning against the broken wall.

"We got him," Youseimon said with a nod. Giving her a soft smile, she added, "I've got a good eye for humans, after all. Well done, partner."

It wasn't just the praise, or the phone that still felt warm in her hand. It was the word 'partner' that ignited that same red glow inside her chest, making her feel as if she'd accomplished something. "Well," Youseimon said at last, breaking the eye contact, "once we get that tower taken care of, the city should return to normal."

Mirai nodded, putting away her sword, and then held out her hands for Youseimon. "Here. Let me."

"I'm not a child," she objected, but accepted one hand, pulling herself out of the wrecked building.

"Youseimon!" The voice was Spadamon's, and he came down the hill with two others she didn't recognize - a white cat with a long tail, and a cloaked figure about Youseimon's height with a witch's hat. "Youseimon, you are not hurt? The boss?"

"Taken care of." Youseimon gave Spadamon a thumbs up. "And never been better. I told you this idea would work."

"If you say so, I must concede the point."

"Tailmon, Wizarmon," Youseimon addressed the other two, "can you take care of that tower?"

"Understood," both said in unison, moving toward it.

"Spadamon," Youseimon addressed him. "I'll be out of the loop for a while. As we discussed, you're in charge when I'm not around. Continue with our plan. Don't take unnecessary risks while I'm gone."

"...As you wish," he said, clearly reluctant. "I will not let our comrades fall to the King."

Mirai turned as she heard a shout of "Neko Kick!". As she stared in surprise, cracks appeared up the black spire. Another shout, this one of "Thunder Cloud!", and lightning hit the weak spot, crumbling it apart, the tip falling to the ground.

"Remind me not to make your cat mad," Mirai muttered to Youseimon.

"So noted."

"Take a look!" Spadamon said, pointing. On the horizon, the fog was already starting to lift. "As expected, the two worlds are separating again."

"Then I'll be going as well." Youseimon grasped Spadamon's paw in both her hands. "Take care, comrade. Until we meet again."

"Yes. May the goddess of fortune shine upon both of us."

As Mirai watched, the lifting of the fog and the Digizone picked up speed, until it was rushing at them like an oncoming wave, the ground turning back to immaculate sidewalk under her feet. And then it was clear skies, the sounds of birds, the new buildings. At first, she saw no people, but then they gradually began to come out of the buildings, cautiously. Feeling the afternoon sun on her face, she wondered if it might have been a dream.

Small hands folded around her own. "Well, then, Mirai. You're probably tired from all that excitement, so shall we retire for the day?"

"...Youseimon?" Mirai looked around, and then back at the Digimon, kneeling in front of her. "You didn't go back to your world?"

"Not at all. Since we're partners, we'll need each other's help to face the challenges ahead. So I'll be staying with you." Youseimon gave her a smile. "Please take care of me."

"...Ehhhh?!"

And thusly, the adventure of Mirai and her partner Digimon, Youseimon began, and the city of Fukuoka was peaceful once more. However, this would only be a taste of the challenges that would lie ahead...