July 2nd

Prompt: Totem

Summary: Nokia needs help with her homework.

~~Story Begins~~

Arata walked into K-Cafe, a scowl on his face, that slowly disappeared upon seeing his cyber sleuth friend sitting at one of the tables working on her homework.

"The others haven't arrived yet?" Arata asked sitting down at the table with Ami.

Ami shook her head, "No and for once, I'm not late but super early. I thought for sure Nokia would have been here by now. She actually took it up as a case along with sending me a SOS message. I never did take the case, just doing it because she is a friend."

"Yeah, I received that SOS message," Arata said. "Right when I was about to accept another comic contest. So, any idea over what Nokia's emergency is?"

"No, there was nothing on the case file report when I looked at it out of curiosity and I have tried calling her, but I never received an answer."

"I swear, if it is over what accessory -"

Ami shook her head, "No, if it was something like that than she wouldn't have the money to file a case and it wouldn't be having us meet at a cafe," Ami twirled the pencil in her hand. "You wouldn't know what system is used underground to help conserve and reuse energy?"

"What?"

"Produced by the internal heat of the earth is known as blank," Ami read from her worksheet.

"Geothermal."

"Thanks," Ami said writing it down.

"You rarely ask for homework help," Arata said.

"I stayed up almost all night for a case," Ami explained. "My mind is tired."

"So to stay awake, you are doing homework."

The bell to the cafe dinged.

"I'm ahead of my homework. With my school allowing most of their students to work, they give us month's work of homework at a time for each class."

"Nokia isn't here?" Yuugo asked as his sister helped him sit down. He was getting better with his physical body, but he still had a long way to go.

"No," Arata said as Ami packed up her homework.

"She needs to arrive soon," Ami added in. "Kyoko is going to call and would want an update."

"She put in a case for this?" Yuuko said as she sat down. "It must be important."

Arata took out his digivice and tried calling Nokia only to receive no answer. "Same as Ami, no answer."

"Hmm, strange. She always has her Digivice," Yuuko commented.

The bell dinged and some regulars came in and ordered their drinks.

"I can't wait anymore," Ami said surprising everyone. "I'm heading back to the office, try and get more cases done. If you wish to stay and she arrives, call me, please."

Ami grabbed her bag and talked to the owner of K-Cafe before she left.

"She usually waits the longest," Yuugo stated.

"She was here before me," Arata stated. "I don't know for how long."

"Oh?" Sacchan said. "Are you talking about Ami? She's been sitting in here since 2."

"It's almost 5," Yuuko said. "She's been waiting three hours."

"2 is when Nokia sent out her message," Arata said checking his messages. "Three hours of not working on a case. No wonder she left all mad."

Two hours later, Arata walked into Kuremi Detective Agency after receiving a call from Kyoko to come over. "The others are on their way," Kyoko said after Arata shut the door. "I'm surprised you got here so fast."

"I was in the area," Arata said. He sat down next to the unusual quiet Ami who had her shoes off with her legs curled up under her. "Is she okay?"

"Ami's finally getting some sleep," Kyoko spoke. "Her alarm will wake her in thirty minutes before she goes to Ueno Park and stay awake all night again."

Arata sighed, "They are such flakes."

"Not very nice," Ami said with a voice laced heavily with sleep and knowing that he was referring to her and Nokia. She lifted her head up from her arms and stared sleepily at the two.

"Go back to bed," Kyoko ordered. Ami shook her head as she uncurled her legs. "Oh? How do you plan on staying awake the whole entire night and day with thirty-five minutes of sleep?"

"It's almost like jet lag," Ami shrugged putting her shoes on.

The door bursted open and Nokia came in, "I'm totes sorry! The teachers took my digivice and wouldn't return it or listen to me. Than they gave me detention, plus after school clean duty by myself, and my tutor lessons!"

"Than you shouldn't have sent out a SOS message," Arata commented dryly.

"Teachers wouldn't let me finish it," Nokia argued.

Ami just shook her head as Yuugo and Yuuko appeared, "I seriously don't have the patience for this."

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of bed?" Nokia asked.

Arata covered Ami's mouth as Kyoko laughed, "Nokia, she hasn't laid down in a bed for forty-eight hours."

Arata glared at Ami as Yuuko sat down with Nokia and Yuugo on the other couch. "Did you just lick my hand?" Arata questioned Ami who was glaring back at him. "Stop licking me!" He removed his hand and wiped it off.

"So, Nokia, what is the Emergency?" Ami asked.

"I need to make a totem pole of four of my friends that changed my life and well, it was you four. I have to include myself in this totem pole as well."

"This was the emergency?" Yuuko spoke. "You could've just asked us to meet up in a group chat in EDEN!"

"Instead of getting caught using Digi-line in class again," Ami said.

"Yeah, well, let's just start doing the assignment," Nokia said taking a piece of paper. "So...uh… who should be the bottom of this totem pole?"

"Well, what does your totem pole look like without their opinions?" Kyoko asked.

"The bottom would be Arata, than Yuugo, than Yuuko, and finally me!" Nokia said.

"Oh? Why?" Nokia asked.

"I'm out," Ami said getting up and proceeded to leave.

"What? Wait, why?" Nokia asked. "I'm a client! A client!"

"No, you are not. You are a friend. I never took your case file. I waited for you for three hours and I have a case to go too. I'm forgotten within your totem pole."

"What? No, I didn't!" Nokia said offended.

"I was going to ask about why Ami wasn't included," Kyoko said as Ami left. "But please excuse her behavior. She's running on little to no sleep the last two soon to be three days and she's under a lot of stress. Mostly self-induced stress."

"What type of stress?" Yuugo questioned.

"I believe that's Ami's choice to tell," Kyoko said. "Now about your homework."

The next morning, Ami was typing up an apology to Nokia. It was a honest Nokia mistake, no need to snap at her about it. Just because she has a lot on her mind now, doesn't mean her friends deserve that type of behavior.

She walked into Broadway and shook her head, try to get the sleepiness out of her mind and to stay awake, at least until she turned this case in. The client had good intentions for looking after his little sister, but the 'bad friends' was two stray dogs who his little sister named New-New and Lekkle.

Ami chuckled to herself, almost everyone forgot about Digimon being tools for hackers but the traces were still there.

"You are giggling at nothing," Arata said in front of her, crossing his arms. "You are going delusional."

"I'm fine," Ami said shaking her head. "Just thinking about Digimon and how traces of them are still noticeable. What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to visit you?"

"You are, but you usually ask in advance," Ami said. "Are you going to let me in the office?"

"Naw," Arata said with his arms crossed. "Not allowing you to work until you get some sleep."

Ami's eyes flashed with anger before she took a deep breath, "I'll get sleep later."

Arata rolled his eyes, "Ami."

"What?"

"It was a group decision to force you to go to sleep," Arata said placing his hands in his pockets. "I happen to be the one who drew the figurative short stick. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Kyoko knows?"

"Yep, she knows you completed your case as well. You don't ever leave things half-finished."

"You do realize I can escape from you, right?" Ami asked causing Arata to arch his eyebrow. "But, I won't. My apartment than?"

"Mhmm, all day," Arata agreed as they went to the elevator. "Kyoko already let me in to drop off the things I brought over." The elevator started going up with them in it. "You know, any of us would be willingly to listen if you needed someone to talk too."

"Huh?"

"Kyoko said you was under a lot of self-induced stress."

The elevator stopped and they got off.

"I'm not working so much to get my mind off of problems if that's what you are thinking I am doing," Ami said as they walked towards her apartment door.

"I never said it was," Arata said as they entered her apartment. "Your digivice, please. So you won't wake up when it goes off."

Ami unwrapped her Digivice and gave it to him, "Do you want my code for it?"

"Yeah, why not."

"1048," Ami said. "I'll change it later after you get done babysitting me. You've been here before, right?"

Arata rolled his eyes, "Yeah, go to bed now. I'll be fine."

"It feels weird though," Ami whined as the taller teen started to push her towards her bedroom. "Fine, fine!"

Thirty minutes later, Arata was doing his own version of Nokia's totem pole assignment when Ami's digivice started to ring. He answered it not paying attention to who was calling when -

"October, how many times do I have to tell you, if it is stage no matter how real it looks, it does not feel genuine! Miwako, the sound was great!" Arata looked up at the screen and saw a woman with black hair done in a bun with glasses on top of it. "Kyoko called me Ami, what do you think you are doing getting so little sleep?" She never looked at the screen. "Mathies, what is it, what do you mean again?"

"Uhh…" Arata said stunned trying to figure out what was going on.

The lady looked at the screen. "You aren't my daughter."

"No, I'm not. A friend of Ami's and she is *should* be sleeping right now," Arata spoke. "Can I give her a message for you?"

"Yes, tell her - Lucas, can't you put them on hold? I'm busy!" Ami's mom said to someone off screen. "No! You do not ever, EVER put them through to my personal digivice unless it's Kuremi Kyoko and my daughter! Yes I have a daughter!" The call got disconnected.

"Don't bother calling back," Ami spoke from her doorway, stifling her yawn. She walked to the couch and sat on it wearing blue shorts a blue tank, an uncommon color on her. "She won't answer."

"What are you doing up?" Arata asked as she looked at what he was working on.

"It's rare for Mom to find the time to call," Ami explained. "I've trained myself to wake up, no matter what, when I hear that ringtone."

"I wouldn't consider that a call."

"Oh no, that's a call. You experience the type of conversation I have 90% of the time with my mother." Ami said. "So, Nokia is on top of your totem pole?"

"The top ones aren't as masterfully created like the bottom ones are, a hidden fact about totem poles."

"So from bottom to top you have; Yuugo, me, Yuuko, yourself, than Nokia?"

"Yes, essentially, you and Yuugo changed our lives," Arata commented. "Now, you should go back to bed. Especially since you should be asleep right now."

"Yes, boss," Ami said jokingly as she got back up and headed towards her bedroom.

"Why are you working so hard, if you don't mind me asking?" Arata questioned before Ami entered her bedroom.

"So I can surprise visit Mom for her birthday, since she won't be home again for her birthday like originally planned" Ami responded looking at Arata. "She may not act like it, but she hates being so far away from me for so long. So a visit from me for her birthday will boost her morale and spirits."

~~The End~~