DV-Pets had washed over the whole school, taking every child from elementary and Jr High by storm as soon as it had come out. Digital Virtual Pets, they were called, really, but the graphics on the keychains were just so intense! There was color, realism, and the pet itself seemed to just POP right off the screen. And it was only just a keychain.
Tai Kamiya tossed his happily into the air, catching it with every other step he took as every step he took before that it was launched into the air. All around him, kids hand their heads turned down, giggling at the DV-Pets they held in their hands. Some even swarmed in groups, comparing their Pets to others, or befriending their Pets to friends' Pets.
"Oh, Sora!" he called happily, rushing to the girl at the very end of the hall, waving his hand frantically to try to get her attention before he actually reached her. Her head was turned down, to, holding a slightly-reddish keychain that provided a picture of a little seed thing that Sora Takenouchi was biting her thumb at. A worried expression creased her brows, and still she didn't seem to notice Tai.
"Hey, Sora, what's up?" he asked once he finally reached her. He looked over her shoulder, trying to see exactly what was up that had her so absorbed in worry on her DV-Pet screen. She looked up, her milk-chocolate eyes searching Tai's face for a clear answer of who he might be, for she didn't recognize him right away.
"Oh, Tai!" she sighed, turning so that her body faced his, her white-gloved hand holding her keychain between them. "Nyokimon's sick, and no matter what I do, I just can't seem to make it better," Her voice, though scratchy with the unshed tears of defeat, was probably the most wonderfully milky sound Tai had every heard in his life.
With a smile, Tai closed his hands over the hand that held Sora's keychain. He took it from her slowly, his own keychain hanging from his pinky for just a little while as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Sora's DV-Pet. Three skulls hung above the germinated seed-like Pet, a clear indication that if Sora couldn't cure it soon, it would surely die, but Tai knew easily how to remedy it.
"Look. All you have to do is show it some love," he explained. He turned so that he was beside her and she could easily see the screen her Pet sat hopelessly on. Of the three buttons he pressed, he used the options to wash and hug the Pet, then fed and brushed the Pet's teeth. Two skulls disappeared, and only one was remaining, but already her Nyokimon looked so much better. "Here!" Tai handed it back to her, "Now all you have to do is give it some medicine and send it to bed," Sora only blinked, then nodded, doing exactly that. The final skull wavered in the air, then disappeared.
"She's better!" Sora cried excitedly. "Oh, thank you, Tai! Thank you!"
"Hey, no problem," and though he said so, his grin was all too wide - clearly glad that he was the one to help her and not someone else. "What! You're hungry again!" he laughed, looking at his own Pet, whose stomach was growling just two minutes after he fed the thing. "Botamon!" he chastised lovingly, about to walk away, but he stopped, waving as Sora as he passed through the crowd to get to his next class.
"Bye, Tai!"
"Yeah, see you later!"
Sora smiled, looking at her happily sleeping Nyokimon already with floating heart above its head. She stroked the screen, stroking its head and the Pet gave a bubbly purr.
(='.')
Matt Ishida, a cute blonde boy girls often liked to stare at as he passed by, leaned against the wall, one hand shoved in his pocket, and the other hand holding his keychain DV-Pet. Though the screen was just before him, he was seeing nothing that was happening between the red glob and the elements. His mind was somewhere else, somewhere away from Odaiba. His kid brother was attending another school, and though he knew he shouldn't worry, he just did.
Sighing, he pushed himself from the wall, but just as soon as he had, a kid much shorter than him crashed into his body, sending only himself to the ground while Matt readjusted his standing position.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" the taller boy blurted, but sucked in his lips when he realized it was only just Izzy. He was always running about excitedly, like there was always something for him to do. "Sorry..." Matt grumbled, reaching down to pull the kid back to his feet. Though he was gripping his laptop tightly to his chest, he was able to get up just fine; the smile on his face was clearly unwavering.
"Matt, look!" he said, shoving his keychain into the blonde's face. Matt had to back up a slight just to get a look at it, seeing this pink blobby thing with arms. "I've only had it a couple hours and it's already at its in-training stage!"
"How'd you do that!" Matt demanded, grabbing Izzy's keychain while his own hung limply on his pinky. As far as he knew, Pets weren't supposed to Digivolve until they were at least a couple days old. "How!"
"I guess when I was transferring it from my computer, a virus somehow got attached to the file and it just makes it grow faster. Although...My computer is updated with the latest firewall, so it should have been impossible for any virus to get in..." For just a moment, Izzy was lost in his thoughts. Matt shook the chain of his keychain, then looked at the screen to see if his Pet could have Digivolved as well...but he only saw the same little blob.
"This one just poops a lot..." he said, having to again clean up another swirly pile that was beginning to attract flies. Just about as soon as he cleaned it, another pile was left on the screen, his Pet blushing in embarrassment. Matt only just sighed again and cleaned it up.
Izzy took his DV-Pet back, then had to stand on his toes just to look at Matt's. Frowning, he took the keychain and moved the selection button over the food.
"What have you been feeding it?"
"Just a lot of vegetables."
"Well, you might want to give it some meat, too," he offered, clicking the food button and selecting the bone of meat. The Pet chomped away at it, licking its lips happily after the third and final bite. "Here," Izzy handed back the keychain, "You should feed it more protein, or else all the food is just gonna go right through 'em," Matt nodded, looking again at his Pet, which now pooped a lot less. "Just don't over feed him."
"I know."
With a shrug, Izzy left Matt to his own devices.
('.'=)
Early morning and it was time to get ready for school - well, perhaps it was time about an hour ago, but the night before, TK Takaishi had been so absorbed in his new DV-Pet that he had quite forgotten to fall asleep until it was around 1:27 in the morning. When he had finally finished giggling over the little blob, he fell asleep with the keychain wrapped around his middle finger.
He yawned, tugging on his jacket to protect him from the cool air, and stopped just as he was reaching for his matching green hat.
"Kari's sick? Oh, the poor dear...I hope she gets better," he heard his mother saying into his phone. At the mention of Kari's name, he perked up, but quickly saddened when he heard she was sick.
"Mom, is Kari okay?" he asked, tugging on his mother's shirt. She looked at him and gave a short smile.
"Do you want to talk to her?"
TK quickly nodded his little blonde head, reaching for the phone so he could talk to his old friend. Though they lived rather far apart, he still enjoyed talking to her every day and sharing news of his school days while she shared hers.
"Hi, Mrs Kamiya!" he called into the phone rather flamboyantly. He hummed as Kari's mother greeted him in return. "Can I talk to Kari, please?" There was a shuffling as the phone was passed from woman to girl. "Kari, it's TK!"
"Oh...hi, TK," came Kari's scratchy voice. She coughed into the phone, which only made TK frown. "How are you?"
"Clearly a lot better than you're sounding," he admitted, surprised. On the other end, Kari only chuckled.
"I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine. Are you drinking lots of tea?"
"Yeah, I am, TK. Oh! Miko! You silly kitty. Shoo!"
"Get lots of rest. I got to go to school now, so, bye-bye - Oh! If you want, I can come over today!"
"That's alright, I don't want you to catch my cold."
The boy only hummed, then nodded his head. He didn't want to catch her cold either, but he really would have liked to take care of her. "Well, take care," he added, and handed the phone back to his mother. The hat he had meant to put on earlier was still left on the table, so he reached for that first, then grabbed his backpack full of colored pencils, regular pencils, and papers from his homework last night that he had suddenly just remembered. A blush crossed his cheeks. He had forgotten to do his homework last night, too.
"Alright. Bye," his mother cooed, and finally turned to look at the hour-late boy. "You ready, you naughty child?" she asked teasingly. TK smiled and nodded his head.
(='.')
Possibly the only kid NOT obsessing over a DV-Pet was the only kid who had decided to attend class early; the kid who thought studying was not only a way of life, but a necessity to live. Joe Kido was such kid, scribbling rapidly on a piece of already-done homework that needed no more attention than he had already given it. Beside him sat two extra sheets of paper with lengthened explanations for not only the short - short - answer questions, but the multiple choice questions as well.
Two others came in, giggling about the brand new fad that had hit Japan. Flustered, Joe turned around, practically yelling in a hoarse whisper, "Do you mind! Some of us are trying to work here!" The two had quieted and stared at him, like he was the idiot and not them. He was only one working while the miniscule few that lingered in the classroom either played handheld games or drew doodles until the class started.
"Joe Kido, I think you're the only one who cares," whispered a girl's voice by his ear. The thirteen-year-old jumped, turning his head to stare widely through his jostled glasses at some girl with orange hair he really didn't recognize.
"Wh-Who are you?" he asked. The girl didn't answer right away, only poked the center piece of his glasses and pushed them right on his nose. "Th-Thank you?" The girl brushed her hair back and sat in the desk beside him, her small frame barely taking up a desk that should have been made from teenagers rather than grade-schoolers - she looked like a grade-schooler, anyway. She was short, and undeveloped - not that he cared. Actually, he wondered where she had come from. Never before had he seen her, at least, not there. Didn't the desk belong to someone else?
"Joe Kido, your Digimon is about to Digivolve."
"Digimon?" Joe delve his hand into his pocket, where he kept a keychain similar to everyone else's, though his was greyish while everyone else's was white. The thing began to beep rapidly, unnerving Joe Kido who knew he was expecting it, and he fussed about, trying to get it to stay quiet. After the beeping had stopped, his baby Digimon was replaced with an in-training Digimon.
" Hello! " it said. Joe hardly knew what else to say other than hello back.
When he turned his head to ask about the girl, she was already gone.
