Henry yawned as he strolled into the kitchen. The scent of chocolate still lingered in the room and made his stomach rumble.
"Good morning Henry," his father greeted, lowering his newspaper.
"'Morning Dad," Henry replied as he got out his favourite cereal, "any changes with the digital world?" Mr. Wong had been working on this study for quite some time now, along with some others.
"Oh nothing out of the ordinary," he said, going back to his newspaper.
"Well that's good," Henry placed his bowl on the table, "I think—Hey Terriermon! Stop that!" Terriermon made a move on his frosted flakes, and subsequently fell to the floor from his failed attempt.
"But I'm hungry!" the rabbit-eared Digimon complained.
"Well I know that, I was about to get you a bowl," he countered. "Anyways, Dad," he said capturing his father's attention, "I think we should try to going back into the digital world, we haven't been there in so long." That was true, when their digital companions made it through the portal, the team of prestigious researchers managed to seal it back up, to prevent stray Digimon from coming through. The problem was this seal was either permanent, or non-existent. If the kids wanted to have access but safety, they would need to create a lock and key system.
"Yes, we are working on it, but the prototypes haven't been working, so we're going to try again," Mr. Wong announced, "but not today."
"Why not?"
"We're going to see the new neighbours today, they moved in last evening, when you were out, but we didn't want to disturb them while they were unpacking," he explained.
"Oh, so that's why Mom made a chocolate cake last night," Henry thought out loud.
"Chocolate cake?" Terriermon exclaimed. He jumped up in excitement, which caused his bowl to tumble to the ground.
"Terriermon!" his Tamer shouted. All of this commotion caused the whole family to emerge from their respective rooms.
"What's the deal?" inquired Rinchei, Henry's older brother.
"Yeah," agreed Jaarin, the second eldest sibling, "I was getting my beauty sleep."
"Humph, you woke me up!" Suzie, the youngest whined.
"And who made this mess!" Henry's mother cried. Terriermon slowly inched away from the scene, but was caught by Henry.
"He made it," Henry pointed out, "so you're going to help clean up."
"That's fair," the guilty one admitted sheepishly.
"I will too," volunteered Lopmon, Suzie's Digimon and Terriermon's doppelganger. Lopmon looked just like Terriermon, except that she had a purple colour scheme and three horns instead of one. The three cleaned up in no time, and with that out of the way, Henry was able to ask questions.
"So, is there any information about our new neighbours?"
"We know they are a mother and her daughter, I think she's around your age, the daughter, not the mother," Mrs. Wong informed. Henry rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Well obviously."
"Speaking of cake—"
"Nobody said anything about cake, Terriermon," Henry stated.
"Well you just did," he bantered, "and speaking of cake, can I pretty please have a piece."
"No—"
"W-What? Why?" Terriermon's eyes grew wide and his mouth formed a pout, "I promise I won't drop another bowl!" The family laughed at his expense.
"If you would let me finish," Mrs. Wong began, "I was going to say 'No, not now, not until we actually meet our neighbours.'"
"Then let's go!"
"I don't remember anything about you being allowed to go," Henry said.
"Sheesh Henry! You're giving me such a hard time this morning!" Terriermon declared. Henry smiled and patted his head.
"I know." Henry turned to his father, "Dad, can Terriermon come with us?"
"I don't see why not, as long as he doesn't give himself away, then it's all good."
"You heard that, you can't move or talk, go it?"
"Moumantai," he replied cheerfully.
"Yay Lopmon gets to come too!" Suzie exclaimed squeezing the life out of her partner. The family got properly dressed and prepped the cake, ready to go on an adventure that only lasts about five steps; they were going to their neighbours after all.
"Well, here we are," Mr. Wong said, stating the obvious. The knock against the metal door echoed in the empty morning hallway. The door was opened by a tall slim woman, in her thirties. Her light brown wavy hair extended past her shoulders and her teal eyes sparkled with warmth.
"Good morning, how may I help you?" she answered.
"We're your neighbours," Mrs. Wong explained. "I'm Mayumi Wong, this is my husband, Janyu Wong, and these are our children, Rinchei, Jaarin, Henry and Suzie," she said as she pointed to the respective member.
"Well it's so nice to meet you! Come on in, I'm Hotaru Natsumi." The family walked into a home similar to there's apart from the numerous boxes splayed everywhere. "Sorry about the mess," she joked. Mrs. Wong chuckled.
"I hope we're not interrupting you," she sincerely pondered.
"Don't worry about it!"
"Here, before I forget, we made you cake, as a housewarming gift," she said handing the woman the parcel.
"Cake? Thank you very much," she cheered. The family smiled with startled but amused smiles on their face. They didn't think their new neighbour would be so, unique.
"Mrs. Natsumi—" Henry began.
"Please, call me Ms. Natsumi," she corrected.
"Oh… I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright," she smiled and nodded, motioning him to continue.
"Ms. Natsumi, don't you have a daughter?"
"Yes! Yes, I do, she's twelve, around your age I'm guessin.'" A nod from Henry confirmed this fact, and she went on, "she's in her room right now, if you could go fetch her for me; we can all talk over a slice of cake." Ms. Natsumi took a moment to calm her self down and continued. "Ariel's room is down the hall and the third door on the left," she explained. And with that Henry ventured down the hall with the instructions. Ariel, Ariel, Ariel, not too hard to remember, he thought to himself. As he approached the third door he heard faint singing, confused by this he knocked on the door, but there wasn't an answer. Henry opened the door to be met with a surprise.
Big and bigger biggest dreamer
Shinjirarenakya
Mabataki shiteru…
Henry was staring at the back of a twelve year old girl, dancing and singing along to The Biggest Dreamer, it was certainly a sight to see. Henry had to stop himself from laughing, or he would have given himself away. He settled on leaning against the door post, enjoying the show.
Big and bigger biggest dreamer
Yume miru koto ga
Subete hajimari sore ga kotae daro
Henry watched with escalating amusement. He noticed her shoulder length hair swishing about, and the rhythm of her feet, in tune with the music, according to the very loud IPod.
Wanna be the biggest dreamer
Zensokuryoku de
Mirai mo ima mo kake nukero!
Henry smiled at the great enthusiasm that was put into the last note. The girl took out her earphones as the song ended and sighed.
"I was supposed to be unpacking…" she said.
"Well that's okay, I'm sure that performance made up for it," Henry said smirking. The eyes of the girl widened as she turned around, slowly.
"You were watching?" she asked, her face was flushed. Henry laughed.
"Yes, yes I was," he answered, "I'm Henry by the way." Ariel was still a bit stunned, because 1. A total stranger was just watching her rendition of The Biggest Dreamer, and 2. He seemed very nonchalant about it. But she quickly regained her composure and stuck out her hand.
"Nice to meet you Henry, I'm Ariel, and if you don't mind me asking, but why are you in my house?" Henry laughed again.
"My family is here to visit yours, seeing how we're your new neighbours, and your mom asked me to get you, because my mom brought you guys a cake," he explained.
"Oh…" she said and smiled, "well thanks for visiting!" Henry noticed how warm her smile seemed, and he really took the time to look at Ariel. Her hair was the same shade as her mother's but was short and straight. Her skin looked smooth and soft, but slightly pink due to her exertion. Her eyes were deep pools of aqua, shining brightly. Henry stood dazzled at her for a moment, before he realized that he was staring. He blushed, but Ariel didn't notice.
"Did you say something about cake?" Henry chuckled, recognizing the similar attitude.
"Yeah, my mom made a cake for you," he said.
"Great! Let's go!" she said grabbing his hand to lead him into the kitchen. Henry blushed at this action, but thankfully Ariel didn't see because he was walking behind her. The two walked in on Ms. Natsumi bustling around the several boxes, while the rest of the Wong family looked on amused.
"I got her," Henry announced.
"Thanks Henry!" Ms. Natsumi replied running to the cupboards. Ariel walked over to the Wong family.
"Good morning, I'm Ariel Natsumi; it was very kind of you to visit us, thank you." The family were situated on the Natsumi's couch and lounge chairs, so Mr. and Mrs. Wong got up to shake her hand.
"It's our pleasure; you may call us Mr. and Mrs. Wong," the latter said. She continued with the introductions, finishing with their youngest child.
"This is Suzie, she woke up quite early this morning, so she's still sleeping," Mr. Wong explained.
"How cute…" Ariel expressed. Suzie was sleeping in a lounge chair, holding Lopmon by the ear. Her grip gave way, and Lopmon tumbled to the ground. Henry cringed for her, and went over to pick her and Terriermon off the ground.
"This is Terriermon, and Lopmon," Henry explained. Ariel affectionately put a hand on Terriermon's head.
"Oh I know who they are," she said. Mr. Wong, Henry, Terriermon and Lopmon froze in shock.
"Y-You do?" Henry was confused. Mr. Wong was waiting for her answer. I've never seen you in my life! thought Terriermon.
"Of course," she paused. "I'm pretty darn good at the card game, if I do say so myself," she admitted. They all released a sigh of relief, even though she wasn't a threat; it was certainly strange to hear about Digimon from an outside source.
"Oh really? Then you would get along with my friends really well. My friends Rika and Ryo, they're very serious about the game," Henry told her.
"Wow, that's awesome, I'd like to meet your friends someday."
"H-how about today, I could maybe show you around town?" Henry was slightly pinked. What's wrong with me today?
"Really? Sure! That'd be great, thanks Henry," she smiled, sending a tingle to Henry's skin.
"Ariel, I need help! I can't find those dishes!" she cried in exasperation. Ariel looked over to her right and giggled.
"Maybe they're in the box labelled fragile?" she smirked. Ms. Natsumi laughed sheepishly.
"They would be, wouldn't they?"
"Excuse me for a minute," Ariel said, picking up the box to bring over to her mom. The two prepared the delicacy that is chocolate cake, and left the Wong family to talk amongst them.
"I like this family," Henry concluded. Mr. and Mrs. Wong shared a secret look.
"Yes, so do we; Ms. Natsumi is a wonderful person, and so is Ariel, she's very cute." This caused Henry to blush, but he fought it; he was sick of blushing today, it's so weird! I'm so weird! he thought.
Not knowing how to respond, Henry said, "You could say that…" He was saved when the Natsumis' announced that it was ready.
Everybody, excluding Terriermon and Lopmon (it seems like Terriermon's plan has failed) were at the table, with a slice of cake in front of them. They all too k the first bite. Sounds of delight exploded from Ms. Natsumi and Ariel.
"This is so good!" exclaimed Ariel.
"Thank you, I made it myself, with the help of Henry," revealed Mrs. Wong. Henry looked down at his plate due to this sudden gain of attention.
"Whoa! That's so cool, you have teach me sometime!" Ariel expressed. Henry looked at her in momentary confusion.
"Yeah you do," Ms. Natsumi interrupted, "because she can't cook anything decent for her life!" Everyone chuckled at Ariel's expense.
"Mom!" Ariel said in a light whining tone, but she knew she was joking. She turned to Henry and stuck out her pinkie. "So will ya?" Her head was cocked to the side and her eyes were sparkling, and a smile was formed on her face. Henry gingerly hooked his pinkie in hers, completing the promise. He quickly looked away to avoid further embarrassment.
"What's wrong?" Ariel inquired, "Aren't you going to eat your cake?"
"Maybe you should feed him," Mrs. Wong slyly suggested. Henry shot up at this idea and blushed madly. The room was filled with laughter, but Ariel shrugged, not understanding the joke. Henry cursed his mom and the thoughts in his head. Soon, the laughter died down to small talk wherein it was revealed that Ms. Natsumi and Ariel used to live in the Toshima region, but moved here due to job relocation. Ms. Natsumi works for an advertising company, where they mainly try to think of clever and effective advertisements for other companies. Soon it was time for the Wongs' to leave.
"I hope we'll get to see you soon," Mr. Wong said.
"Well it's inevitable, we live next to each other," Ms. Natsumi pointed out.
"That's true, we should get going now." Mrs. Wong said, carrying Suzie, "It was a real pleasure meeting you two."
"Thank you, come again soon!" Ariel proclaimed. The family filed out of the door, with Henry being the last. He trailed behind, wanting to ask Ariel something.
"So when do you want to go out?" Henry quickly realized what he had said, and swiftly corrected himself, "You know, go out on the town," he said as casually as possible. Ariel remained unfazed by his mistake and titled her head up to think.
"Um, I'll have to ask," she said, walking over to the kitchen sink where her mom was. Henry followed behind. "Mom, Henry volunteered to show me around town, do you know when I can go?
"How sweet," she said, smiling at Henry. "Would it be okay if you guys go now?" Ariel was rather perplexed.
"Now, but we still have unpacking to do…"
"Oh it's alright, go, have fun!" she winked, mostly to Henry. Henry seemed shocked by this, but remained a straight face.
"Ok… if you really think it's okay," Ariel said smiling, warming up to the idea.
"Of course! Now run along."
"Thanks Mom!" Ariel turned to Henry, "Can you wait for a few, I have to go get something, sorry," she apologized.
"It's okay, I have to go get something too, I'll be right back," Henry replied. And with that, Henry returned to his home, and Ariel raced to her room. A few moments after the kids had left, Ms. Natsumi let out a squeal.
"They are so cute!"
Before anybody mentions it, I know Lopmon is supposed to be a male, but in the dub, which is what I'm workin with, he's a she. *shrug*
Lots of lovey dovey obliviousness
Next chapter: They're out in the town, meeting everybody
Kenta, Kazu, Jeri will be introduced in the story next
and Takato and Rika, of course
and maybe a bit of our favourite villians will be in the next chapter
