Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay on this one; I've just started university again, so it'll probably take longer to write new episodes.

About this episode itself, it's continuing to set up the story in preparation for later events. The plot will be moving more around episode four.

And again, if you like the story, please leave a review. Thank you!


02: The pair's struggle. Pride is a part of everyone!

'…So I figured I'd throw my apple at him while he wasn't looking.'

'Kouhei…'

'What? It's not like it hit him. He's a moron anyway. Then the captain came in right after and thought he did it.'

'Kouhei…'

The entire family sat around the dining table, conversing as they ate dinner. Haruto was talking to his mother about English studies, while Kouhei was being told off by his father. Seira paid no attention to either conversation, instead focussing her attention into the port cutlet on her plate.

'Seira, would you stop making that face already?'

Seira glanced up to find that her father had finished with Kouhei, and was now giving her a serious look. 'When you're in a bad mood, everyone around you will feel depressed too.'

'I don't care,' Seira stuffed more cutlet into her mouth, while fixing the rice and salad on her plate with a glare.

'The rest of us do care,' her mother also shifted her attention to Seira, while both her brothers watched; Kouhei with a smirk, and Haruto with irritation.

'Just leave me alone,' Seira muttered without looking up.

'This does concern all of us, you know,' her father pointed out.

At his words, Seira's face darkened, and she crammed the rest of her dinner into her mouth. 'Just leave me!' she said, standing up in her seat. 'I'm done.' She left the table and marched in the direction of her room.

'Seira, we're not done talking with you,' stated her mother. In response, Seira slammed her bedroom door shut behind herself. In the safety of her own room, she threw herself face down onto the bed.

"Besides, you'd just get in the way. You're clearly not strong enough to fight him." Kindramon's voice echoed in her head, and something in her chest stung. Her hand clenched into a fist, and swung down at the bed.

'Seira, I'm coming in,' said her mother as the door swung open. She then shut it again, and sat down on the edge of the bed. 'You handled yourself very poorly out there,' she observed. 'Do you know what I mean?'

'Uuuuhhh,' Seira grunted into the bed.

Her mother sighed. 'If you understand, can you tell me what all that was about?'

'No,' Seira propped her chin up on the bed.

'Is this at all related to school?' her mother pressed. 'Or is it your brothers?'

'I said I don't want to talk about it,' Seira rolled onto her side, facing the wall. 'Just go away already.'

'I'm on your side, Seira,' her mother frowned at her back. 'I want to help you sort this out; so at least look at me when I'm talking to you.'

Silence.

'Fine, be that way,' her mother strode to the door, and disappeared behind it.

Seira rolled over to look at the door. 'No you're not,' she muttered.

After a few moments of glaring at the door, she rolled onto her back, and her gaze drifted to one of the lights in the ceiling.

"You're clearly not strong enough."

Seira gritted her teeth, as her eyes narrowed in resolve.

The following morning, Seira sat at the table, eating a piece of toast in silence as she watched chaos unfolding around her.

'Haruto, get out of bed now or I'm ringing the school,' their mother's voice echoed from down the hallway.

Haruto mumbled something inaudible in reply, and noise could be heard from his room.

Sticking her head out of the hallway, their mother directed her attention to the TV. 'And you should get moving too,' she said to the boy sitting on the sofa.

Kouhei groaned, and went to get his bag from the dining table. As he headed for the front door, their mother emerged from the hallway, carrying her bag. 'I'll see you later,' she said to Seira, 'and try to get some work done today.'

'Yeah, have a safe trip,' Seira muttered without turning around.

'See you, moron,' Kouhei called out as he followed his mother out the door, and Seira's eyebrows twitched together in a frown.

By the time Seira had finished her breakfast, Haruto wandered from his room, in uniform and carrying his bag. Seira went back down the hallway to her room, but headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she left again, she glanced back down the hallway to see Haruto still at the table. Returning to her room, she shut the door behind herself, and began emptying the contents of her bag onto her desk. As she finished, she heard Haruto call out, followed by the front door slamming shut.

Resolve flashed across her face. She grabbed the empty bag, and her Digivice, which had been sitting on a shelf over her desk, and pocketed it as she headed into the hallway. But instead of going into the main area, she went into her parents' room. Directly opposite the door was a double bed, with a bedside table on either side. Seira headed for the right side, and opened the draw of the bedside table. Paper, tissues, medicine and other clutter filled the front of the draw, but Seira reached towards the back, and felt around for a moment, before pulling out a Swiss Army Knife. As she pushed it into her other pocket, she headed back out to the main area.

In the kitchen, she opened the pantry, and tossed a number of snack foods into her bag. She then opened the fridge, and pulled out a plate of leftover pork cutlet. Within a few minutes, the pork cutlets had been stuffed between slices of bread, and wrapped up in paper. Stuffing the sandwiches into her bag, Seira pulled a set of keys from the front pocket, and headed to the door. 'I'm heading out,' she announced, and then shut the door behind herself.

Clouds still obscured most of the sky, but sunlight continued to poke through them, casting weak light across the street. As Seira approached the alley, she gave the portal a stern look, and walked into it.

Again, the ground disappeared, and a blur of shapes, colours and symbols surrounded her. But instead of going dark, the scene faded away to be replaced by an unfamiliar landscape.

The hillside scattered with trees had been replaced by a flat expanse filled with towering trees, and dense shrubbery. Blue sky could be glimpsed through the canopy above. Aside from a faint hum emitting from the portal, the surrounding area was still.

After regaining her balance, Seira turned to find the portal flickering behind her. She pulled her Digivice from her pocket, and her eyes widened. Three circles, each inside each other were blinking in front of the red dot. She cast a glance at the portal, and then looked up at the surrounding jungle, before stepping forward through the shrubbery, away from the portal.

The plants caught and snapped at her legs, slowing her movements, and causing her to almost fall over. With a dark look, she steadied herself using a tree trunk, and continued moving forward, occasionally glancing at her Digivice. The portal marker was shifting closer to the top of the screen.

Over time, the undergrowth seemed to thin, and the plants and trees became stripped of their leaves. From amidst the shrubbery emerged a trail, and Seira glanced around before heading left. Within a few minutes, a rustling noise intruded into the quiet, and Seira increased her pace, thrusting her right hand around the knife in her pocket. The trail disappeared around a bend, but as Seira reached the bend, puzzlement filled her face at the scene before her.

Four strange creatures – Digimon, Seira figured – were gathered around a cluster of trees. They were bright green, with tails, and stumpy legs and roots in place of feet; and their thick arms sprouted three purple vines. They had to be like vines, because they were extending out from the creatures' arms to pluck berries off the tree, which were held with their other arm. Their most distinct feature however, was that each had a large flower growing on its head. Three of these were deep pink, with a yellow centre, however the fourth one sported a purple flower instead.

At the sign of movement, one of the creatures glanced up and spotted her. 'Aah! A strange Digimon!' it yelled, retracting its vines to point at her.

The other three Digimon looked up in the direction it pointed, and they too retracted their vines, alarm filling their faces. The four of them clustered together, free arms raised, and their gazes fixed on Seira, who tensed where she stood.

'Are you one of Shadowmon's allies?' one of them asked.

At the mention of Shadowmon's name, Seira's demeanour completely changed. 'Why would I be on her side?' she yelled. 'She is out to get me. I don't even know what's going on here!'

The Digimon began to mutter amongst themselves, before turning back to her. 'We're sorry then,' said the one who asked the question, but although they lowered their arms, they remained grouped together. 'She has lots of allies in this area, trying to recruit more for her cause.'

'What sort of cause?' Seira asked.

'We don't know,' said the one with the purple flower. 'Just that they're all gathering at the old castle further north from here.'

Seira considered their words for a moment, before she asked, 'Have you seen a Digimon called Kindramon around here then? I'm trying to find her.'

'A Kindramon?' repeated one of the pink flowers. 'They don't usually come out here. I guess they'd want to defeat Shadowmon, but just one of them wouldn't be strong enough…'

'Wait, didn't you hear?' said the one with the purple flower. 'Wormmon said he saw one near the outskirts of the village this morning.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, I heard that too,' said another of them.

'Where is this village then?' Seira asked.

'Back that way,' one of them pointed down the trail.

'Great, thanks!' Seira said, and broke into a run. The Digimon shuffled off to one side as she moved towards them, and stared after her as she disappeared through the trees.

After a few minutes, Seira slowed to a walk, and took out her Digivice again. Only the edge of the outermost ring was still showing on the screen. With a sigh, she re-pocketed it.

Time continued to stretch on, and emptiness began to gnaw at Seira's stomach. She began to pull off her backpack, when something caught her attention. A beeping noise was coming from her pocket. Instead, she pulled her Digivice from her, pocket, and her eyes widened at the sight of an unfamiliar white dot near the bottom of the screen. Increasing her pace again, she charged forward through the jungle with large strides, glancing down at her Digivice to watch the white dot moving closer and closer to the centre. As it came level with the centre dot, but off to the right, Seira stopped for a moment, and looked up at the shrubbery to her left. Without another thought, she pushed her way into it, off of the path.

She continued on, pushing plants out of her way for a few minutes, watching as the white dot drew closer, until the undergrowth parted against the roots of a large tree. Another glance at the radar confirmed that the source of the white dot was there. Since the largest roots were higher than Seira's head, she peered around them, only to find masses of smaller roots twisting towards the ground. But as she reached the other side of the tree, she gave a gasp.

Kindramon was slumped against the trunk, covered in dirt; with her legs drawn up to her body, and her eyes half shut. Her tail stuck out neck to her, but part of her scales near the based appeared to have been scraped away; in their place was a flicker of grey pixels.

'There you are,' Seira exclaimed and crouched down next to her, causing Kindramon's eyes to fly open. 'I've been looking for you for ages.'

'What? Why are you here?' Kindramon shuffled away from her, and fixed her with a frown. 'This place is too dangerous for you!'

'I've come to take you back with me,' Seira stated.

'How could you come here just for that?' Kindramon demanded. 'You could have been killed.'

'I could have been killed yesterday too,' Seira retorted. 'Anyway, if this place is so dangerous, you really should come with me.'

'Are you implying I can't protect myself?' Kindramon snapped.

Hot anger shot through Seira's chest. 'No, I was worried about you,' she snapped back. 'You're hiding behind a tree looking like a mess, and it looks like you're hurt. If you stay here, you're the one who'll be killed.'

Kindramon glanced away from her and muttered, 'Then I'd rather die than have someone help me.'

'Don't say that!' Seira yelled at her. 'To let yourself die instead of living on and becoming stronger is pathetic. Now get up, you're coming with me.'

Kindramon stared at her for a moment, before she muttered 'Fine,' and stood up. Seira's expression also relaxed, and she stood up too. 'Here,' she began rummaging in her bag, and pulled out the sandwiches. 'Eat that,' she passed one to Kindramon.

'Thank you,' Kindramon muttered, and pulled the wrapping off the sandwich as Seira did the same. She gave it a pained look, and took a bite. Her expression suddenly changed, and the rest of the sandwich disappeared within seconds.

Seira attempted to conceal a smile, but Kindramon gave her a dark look. 'Okay, just come on then,' she sighed, and started going back in the direction she'd come.

Neither of them spoke again as they headed to the portal. The original trip had seemed to drag on for several hours, but with a definite path ahead of her, and Kindramon in tow, time began to speed up again. The trees, which the flower Digimon had picked berries from, were now abandoned, and devoid of fruit; in fact, the entire jungle seemed still despite Kindramon's warnings of danger. By the time they reached and entered the portal, and then Seira's house, it was already after lunchtime.

'Today's a half-day, so everyone will be home earlier,' Seira stated as she dumped her bag on the table, 'though they'll still have clubs for a few hours. So let's clean you up and to something about that wound.'

'It isn't that serious,' Kindramon folded her arms, 'I can deal with it myself.'

'Yeah yeah, just come on,' Seira put a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the bathroom.

Leading off from the laundry, the bathroom had an open shower off to one side, with the bathtub along the back wall. As they entered the room, Seira grabbed the shower hose, and began to turn the taps, but Kindramon intervened. 'It's okay, I can do something like this myself,' she said.

'Okay,' with a sigh, Seira handed her the hose. 'Just turn the taps the other way when you're done.' She slid the door open again and disappeared behind it.

Seira pulled a face as she examined the wound on Kindramon's tail. 'This is a really strange wound,' she said. 'What happened?'

The two of them were sitting on Seira's bed with the first-aid kit nearby. 'I was attacked by a Flymon while looking for that Dracmon,' Kindramon said with a scowl at the wall. 'I managed to escape, but I crashed into a log.'

Although Seira didn't know what a Flymon was like, she nodded anyway. 'So you just got it from a log?' she echoed, and Kindramon nodded. 'Then why's it all grey-looking?'

'Because that's how all wounds look…' Kindramon continued to scowl at the wall.

'I guess it's a Digimon thing,' Seira thought aloud. 'Okay, I don't do this much,' she said as she picked up a cloth, 'but I'll do my best.'

From the first-aid kit, she grabbed a bottle marked "disinfectant", unscrewed the top, and poured some into the cloth. She then pressed it against Kindramon's wound.

With a cry, Kindramon leapt from the bed, spun around and fixed her with a glare. 'What do you think you're doing to me?' she yelled. 'Are you trying to make it worse?'

'It's disinfectant!' Seira yelled back at her, 'it always stings. Just sit down again.'

'Is it really supposed to help?' Kindramon asked.

'Yeah, otherwise the wound will get worse and make you sick.'

With an awkward glance at the floor, Kindramon sat down again. 'Fine, just let me do it then,' she muttered.

'Okay, okay,' Seira rolled her eyes, and handed the cloth over.

When the wound was finally bandaged, Seira gave a sigh. 'I'm glad that's done,' she said, shutting the first-aid kit. 'Is there anything else you need?'

'I'm alright, thank you,' Kindramon stood up. 'I suppose you want me to stay here for now?'

'Of course,' Seira agreed. 'You're hurt, so you should rest for now.'

Kindramon sighed. 'You are right; I was on guard against attack for most of the night.'

'I can get you some blankets then,' Seira jumped off the bed and hurried to the door.

'No, don't worry about it,' Kindramon said as she sat on the floor. 'Here is fine.'

'At least lie on my bed,' Seira frowned.

'No, it is your bed, so you should be the one to use it,' Kindramon stated, and shut her eyes.

Seira gave her an agonised look, and opened and shut her mouth a few times before leaving the room.

After a few hours had passed, Seira's mother and brothers began to arrive home, forcing her back into her room. Whenever voices passed close to her door, Seira glanced up from her desk with an uneasy look. At one point, her mother tried to come in, forcing Seira to usher her back out into the hallway, and hold a hasty conversation there. Her mother returned to the main area with a frown covering her face. It was only when Kouhei yelled that dinner was ready that she emerged from her room again.

As they sat down for dinner, a scene similar to the previous night began to occur.

'So Haruto, how is your studying doing?' asked their father, who had recently come home from work.

'Just the same,' Haruto answered between mouthfuls.

'I see… do you want to explain more than that?' he asked.

With a half-frown on her face, Seira made stabbing motions at her spaghetti.

'There isn't much to say about it. We're still working on English, and that's about it,' Haruto stated.

'I'm surprised he's even still standing from how much he studies,' Kouhei muttered.

'Really? I think you could learn a bit from him,' said their mother.

'What could I possibly learn from him?' Kouhei rolled his eyes dramatically.

There was a brief silence, when Haruto muttered, 'Effort.'

'I don't know what you're talking about,' said Kouhei. 'I'm a very hard-working person.'

'He is right Kouhei,' said their mother. 'You do need to consider your studies more if you want to get into a good university.'

'Who cares about university, I'd rather just keep playing basketball,' Kouhei said.

'Kouhei…' his mother began.

'Hey, if Kouhei wants to do basketball, shouldn't he be allowed to do that?' asked his father. 'There's no use drowning yourself in more study if that's not what you want in life.'

'Thanks Dad!' said Kouhei, even as his mother made threatening gestures towards his father.

Seira glanced up that them with a glare, and began shovelling spaghetti into her mouth.

'It's quite alright,' said their father, 'just let me know if you need any help with the upcoming season; I remember it was pretty rough back when I was in high school.'

'Dad, they already won all these matches last year,' said Haruto. 'Besides, Kouhei-niisan has a thick head.'

'Well he won't get hurt that easily then if he gets hit in the head!' their father joked.

'Thanks a lot Dad…' the smile slid off Kouhei's face.

'It's true,' their father said, 'I got hit in the head once myself during practice and had to go to the nurse's office.'

'That is ridiculous,' Haruto muttered.

'I suppose; I wouldn't trade it for anything,' their father admitted. 'Basketball is a fine sport.'

At that moment, Siera's hands clenched around the edge of the table. 'Ask me what I've been doing!' she burst out.

For a moment, everyone stared at her, until her father said, 'Okay, what have you been doing Seira?'

Seira opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, Kouhei said, 'Nothing, because soccer's been cancelled!'

'It's back on tomorrow!' Seira yelled at him.

'I hope you're taking this opportunity to catch up on your studies,' said their mother. 'Remember, even if I'm too busy, I'm sure Haruto could give you some help.'

In a single motion, Seira stood up, causing her chair to scrape against the floor. 'I'm done,' she muttered, as she spooned more spaghetti from the pot into her bowl. 'I'm having this in my room.' Dropping the ladle back into the pot, she swept off down the main hallway, and moments later, a door slammed shut.

'What is her problem?' Kouhei wondered, as his mother sighed.

Kindramon glanced up as Seira appeared from behind the door, but frowned at the slamming noise. 'What was that about?' she asked.

'They're a bunch of idiots who don't know anything!' Seira clanged the bowl down onto her desk, and threw herself into the chair.

'Strange,' Kindramon mused, 'even though you live in the same house together?'

'Doesn't mean I have to like them,' Seira grumbled, as her gaze shifted to the bowl of spaghetti. 'Here,' she stood up and passed it to Kindramon. 'Your dinner.'

'Are you sure this is okay?' Kindramon glanced from the spaghetti to her.

'Of course it is,' Seira folded her arms. 'You are a guest here.'

With another pained look at the spaghetti, Kindramon grasped the fork with her three fingers, and scooped some of it into her mouth. Again, her eyes widened, and the tentativeness in her actions disappeared. The bowl was empty again within a few minutes.

'I guess you liked it then, huh?' Seira asked as she finished.

'It was very good,' Kindramon admitted, yet lowered her gaze.

'Hey, you're not still worried about staying here, are you?' Seira frowned.

'Of course I am,' Kindramon retorted. 'It goes against my pride as a Digimon. But it's the same for all Kindramon. We fight to protect order in the Digital World, therefore for us to depend on another is shaming to us.'

Seira made a bitter face at her, prompting her to ask, 'What? Does it bother you that much?'

'"Your pride as a Digimon"?' Seira echoed. 'Do you have any idea how I felt yesterday? I tried to look out for you, I gave you food, I tried to help you against Dracmon, and then you said I was useless. I felt so angry. Even if I can't shoot fire or whatever, I have pride too.'

'I… see,' said Kindramon. 'I never considered that… sorry.' Her voice trailed off as she glanced away with uncertainty.

'You should remember that,' Seira continued, 'I don't think you'll get far protecting much if you treat others like that.'

Kindramon tensed, as her eyes snapped back to Seira. 'I understand that,' she said with a forced tone, 'I will consider it.'

With a sigh, Seira turned back to her desk. As silence filled the room, she began to fiddle with a pencil, while her mind drifted away to the events of the past two days. Curiosity formed in her mind.

'Kindramon?'

'What is it?' some hesitation remained in her voice.

'Do you know anything about Shadowmon?'

'Shadowmon? They're a strange species. Because they keep their thoughts to themselves, it's hard to know what their intentions are,' Kindramon told her. 'That Dracmon mentioned something about a Shadowmon too; did something happen?'

Seira explained to her about herself and Akito, meeting Shadowmon, and finding her Digitama in the garden of eggs, as well as what the flower Digimon had told her.

'It seems something evil is being planned,' Kindramon thought aloud. 'We should investigate this castle as soon as possible; do you know how to contact that boy?'

'We only just met then,' said Seira.

'That is a shame,' Kindramon said. 'I hope you can find him again, but unless that happens, we cannot rely on his help. It is possible though that the local Digimon may help us if they feel the same way.'

'I passed a village when I was looking for you,' Seira said, 'and I spoke to some other Digimon too, but they seemed scared more than anything.'

'A typical reaction,' Kindramon sighed.

Footsteps approached from up the hallway, and there was a knock on the door. 'Seira? I'd like to talk with you,' came her mother's voice.

'N-not right now!' Seira jumped in her seat. 'I'm studying!'

'Please work hard on it, then,' although her mother sounded uncertain, her footsteps retreated back down the hallway.

'Ugh, that was too close…' Seira groaned.

'Like I said yesterday, it really would be much easier if you just introduced me to them,' Kindramon advised. 'What we're doing is rude to them, you know.'

'Yeah, but you're way bigger now than yesterday,' Seira objected. 'If they saw you now, there's no way it'd go well.'

They continued to argue about hiding Kindramon, until the subject shifted back onto the events of the past two days. It was only when Seira's parents came to check why she was still awake that they went to bed themselves.

To avoid having anyone discover her in the morning, it was decided that Kindramon would spend the night in Seira's walk-in wardrobe. At least, that was the intention.

Even as she slept, a familiar prickling filled Kindramon's chest, forcing her eyes open. Pushing the door open, she made her way to the bedroom door. But as she began to pull the door open, Seira sat up in bed.

'Where are you going?' she asked.

'I didn't want to wake you,' said Kindramon, 'but there's another hostile Digimon outside.'

'That Dracmon guy again?' Seira swung her feet over the side of the bed.

'I'm not sure,' Kindramon answered, 'but whoever it is, they need to be dealt with immediately.'

'Right,' Seira stood up, and headed to her desk. 'Just let me get the knife…' with one hand, she pushed her goggles down around her neck, and with the other began rummaging in her schoolbag.

'No, it's too dangerous for you to be involved.'

'Hey, there's no way I'm letting myself get caught again,' Seira protested as she pulled out the knife. 'I have pride as a person, too.'

Kindramon hesitated for a moment, and then said, 'Very well. We should go to that open space next to the table; it looks like you can get a good view of below from there.'

'You mean the balcony?' Seira asked. 'Yeah, that's a good idea.'

Chill air billowed around them as Seira slid open the door separating the rest of the house from the balcony. As she stepped out onto the cold pavement, she winced at the feeling, yet peered over the ledge into the street regardless. The moon gleaming amidst the clouds, combined with the lampposts lining the street cast a faint light against the darkness, revealing a small figure creeping towards the building.

'Him again,' Kindramon narrowed her eyes. 'I'll definitely get him this time.'

Grasping the railing with both hands, to Seira's horror, she hoisted herself over it and positioned her feet along the outside wall. Her eyes remained fixed on the figure below.

'Wha- you're not…' Seira stammered at her.

Kindramon glanced over at her with an unreadable look, and then launched herself off of the balcony. As she hurtled through the air, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Then, once the street and its occupant loomed towards her, she gave a cry:

'Kleines Drache Kick!'

With a cry, her victim crumpled underneath her weight. As she landed, Seira snapped back to reality, and with a muttering of 'damn it', rushed back into the house.

Springing away from her victim, Kindramon assumed a stance. Dracmon picked himself up off the ground, and waved his arms at her.

'Hey! Why'd you do that? That wasn't fair; it really hurt!'

'Payback for yesterday,' Kindramon stated.

'I'll make you pay for embarrassing me in front of Shadowmon-sama!' he yelled back. 'I'm going to show that Hanumon I'm way better than him.'

'You're just babbling,' said Kindramon.

'Nu-uh, I came prepared again,' a familiar grin spread across Dracmon's face, and he pulled something from behind his back. 'Take this!'

He hurled the item at the ground between them, and as it landed, smoke billowed upwards, concealing him from view.

'You wretch!' Kindramon yelled as she whirled around, searching for him. 'Only a true coward would cheat in order to win!'

Without a response to her accusations, she remained thrashing amidst the blindness. As the silence lengthened, her movements became more desperate, and worry began to show in her face. But when Dracmon spoke again, it caused her insides to freeze.

'Undead Bite!'

Fangs sank in to Kindramon's neck, as a pair of hands held down her arms. With a scream, she began thrashing around even more violently than before, but with her arms bound and pain spreading through her body, there was little else she could think of.

At that moment, alarm jolted her body. Dracmon's outstretched hand entered her vision, the eyeball beginning to glow.

And as a cry came from behind her, the eyeball was replaced by a protruding red hilt, with grey pixels coursing from around it.

As a scream erupted from his mouth, Dracmon pulled his fangs out of Kindramon, and dropped to the ground while he pulled the knife from his hand. 'My eye!' he shrieked. 'My eyeeee!'

'It's what you deserve after everything you've done,' Kindramon glared at his collapsed form. 'Kleines Feuer!'

Flames spewed from her mouth to engulf him, and he screamed even louder than before, until his whole body dissolved into pixels, and dispersed into the air along with the fire. All that remained of Dracmon was his scream echoing throughout the street.

'Are you alright?' at the sound of her voice, Kindramon turned face Seira, who remained silhouetted by the smoke.

'It isn't that bad,' Kindramon said as she touched the wound on her neck, and sighed. 'But for me to be helped by you again is…'

'Consider it payback after yesterday,' Seira said as she picked up the knife from where it lay.

'But you're already letting me stay in your house as well as providing food!'

'Hmm, then it's payback for next time,' Seira decided.

'Next time…?'

'Yeah, if they're after me, there'll probably be more,' Seira headed past her to the building's entrance. 'Now come on, we need to look at your neck, and then go back to bed.'

Kindramon gave a sigh as she walked over to Seira. Away from the smoke, she could see Seira was wearing the goggles over her eyes.

'I thought you were kind of cool actually,' Seira said.

'Really?'

'Yeah. Just next time, don't jump off the balcony; I freaked out when you did that,' Seira made a face.

'I… see,' Kindramon gave her a puzzled look, causing her to stifle laughter.

'Hey…'

'Okay, okay, let's get back upstairs before someone comes to investigate the yelling,' before Kindramon could say anything else to her, Seira hurried into the building.

Seira's parents had gotten up to investigate the noise, and it was only once they left the balcony, still talking, that Seira and Kindramon could come inside. With Kindramon's bite also needing treatment, it was a while before the two of them could go back to bed.

'Night, Kindramon,' Seira said as she pulled the covers back over herself.

'Goodnight,' Kindramon's voice was muffled by the wardrobe door.

With the attack fresh in her mind, and her body still tense, it was a while before Seira could fall asleep again. But even after she did, Kindramon still sat awake against the wardrobe wall, her own thoughts dwelling on other events of the day.