There's another clatter of a broken plate inside the diner, and the sound now makes Yamato's teeth grind. The part that pitied his senior is long gone. The part that told him to stick around, is still very much alive and here to stay.

He wants to shove that part into a lawn mower and leave.

Gabumon winces at the noise inside and looks at him. Yamato doesn't know what he's expecting is going to happen. Does he think Yamato will go wild and just crack the older boy's head? Evolve him and torch the entire place to ashes? Okay that idea sounds tempting.

He shakes his head. He can't do that. That will get him in trouble, on the run. He couldn't go back to Takeru, bring him that much trouble. Even if Tokomon evolved back to Patamon…

Angemon could die again.

He can't risk that, not when it will hurt his brother.

Not when he's the only one who can protect Takeru now. The others have gone their separate ways like the fact that they came here together didn't mean a darn thing in the end. One is probably gone for good.

He can't let Takeru be next.

So he has to hurry. Hurry to pay off the debt that Jou owes so they can leave. He is good with injuries. Having him around will be useful to avoid infections, though there haven't been any.

Yamato tries to tell himself that, to think that, but it grows more and more elusive as more screaming erupts from the kitchen. Jou stammers apologies and RedVegimon does something that sounds slightly painful (much of a creep as the guy is, he won't directly harm his staff, so Jou is in no immediate danger. Sound still makes him want to jump up though…) and the routine goes on into quiet.

He wants to leave. Jou can fix his own mistakes, surely, and if he can't, there's already no hope for him right?

Yamato looks at his harmonica, then pockets it again. It won't help. It never does now, not since…

Well, not for a few months now..

"Yo."

Yamato jumps from his reverie. Gomamon grins at him and waddles down the steps. "You thinkin' too hard again?"

Yamato feels his eye twitch. "What's it to you?"

"Well, I dunno." Gomamon settles next to him. "You usually do that." Gabumon lets out a tiny laugh, only to stop, looking ashamed. Yamato twitches as Gomamon chortles. "See, even Gabumon agrees with me."

"D-Do not..."

"Sure ya do!" Gomamon snickered again, ignoring (or probably not caring about) the rising flush on Yamato's face. "Just came out here to say thanks. I mean, for helping out."

Yamato looks away. "… Was the right thing to do." He came out here now and said that, now, when Yamato himself was thinking of leaving, going while it was still good and he wouldn't hate himself for it.

"Just cause it was right don't mean you had to do it," Gomamon objects. "I mean, it'd be right for me to help but I ain't exactly got long hands, ya know?"

"You don't have hands at all," Gabumon retorts. Gomamon offers him an offended pout and Gabumon crosses his arms.

Then Gomamon shrugs. "I don't have your ham hands sure." He continues over Gabumon's sputtering. "So anyway, thanks for putting up with this. Jou is just being too much of a noble berk to tell the guy where to shove his eggshell. Maybe he should take a page out of your book, eh? Anyway, see ya in the morning."

He waddles away before Yamato can tell him he's wrong. To do that would imply Yamato is an honest person. He's not. He knows he's not. If he was, those two would have been able to tell how much he hated being around them, how much he hated doing this.

Or maybe Gomamon had noticed, and that was why he had said something.

Yamato lays back on the grass.

Damn it… now he doesn't know what to do. He leaves, he goes back to his family. He stays, he takes care of his friend. Are they friends?

He doesn't know.

Gabumon curls up against him. "See you in the morning, Yamato."

"… Yeah."

Seems like Gabumon does.

A/N: Hello! I'm getting better at this! You could argue this as a Lightverse sidestory or not. Either is fine. :D Anyway, please let me know what you think.

Challenges: Digimon Non Flash Bingo 514 - place: Digitamamon's Restaurant, Diversity Writing Challenge prompt B88. Write a fic in the friendship genre.