Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

What's Left of You

Chapter: 2

Henry stood next to Rika, watching as Takato was loaded into the ambulance. His grey eyes glanced at her worriedly. The girl was, understandably, coiled with tension, her hands having been fixed into tight fists ever since the paramedics managed to pull her away from their friend, something that proved surprisingly difficult ever since their hands met. He watched her glare daggers as the ambulance staff, upon securing Takato, hurriedly took off, no doubt promising all manner of torment for them if they allowed anything to happen to him on the way to the hospital.

He let out a heavy sigh as the ambulance disappeared around the corner, the whole weight of the day crashing down heavily on his shoulders.

"Do you… Do you think they'll be okay?" came the quavering voice of Kenta as he approached from behind, cradling a battered, still unconscious MarineAngemon in his arms. Takato hadn't been the only one to be injured today from all the fighting. Kazu's leg had been broken as well, and even the mighty Ryo Akiyama suffered a nasty head wound that required numerous stitches. It was nothing short of a miracle that any of them had gotten away unscathed.

"We can only hope," Henry replied, turning toward the bespectacled boy, noting that his glasses were missing a lens and the remaining one was cracked.

"We wouldn't need to hope if a certain someone had hung back like he was told," Rika growled under her breath. Kenta flinched, as if struck, and Henry turned a hard look at the fire-haired girl.

"Rika…" he began warningly, and Renamon materialized next to her, the still unconscious Gigimon nestled into the corner of her arm, her fur still disheveled, and stained from Takato's blood. The vulpine digimon placed a paw on the girl's shoulder and something seemed to pass between them, for a moment later, Rika's shoulders sagged and her fists loosened.

"Sorry," she whispered exhaustedly, her voice cracking a little.

"I'm sorry too," Kenta said softly. A pall of silence fell over the remaining group, no one seeming to know what else to say or do, but rather remained rooted to where they stood.

The clinking sound of a lighter flicking open and closed reached their ears, and as one the three teens turned to find a man approaching them, blond-haired, though now salted with grey, his expression hard and as unreadable as stone. Henry nodded to him while Rika narrowed her eyes darkly.

"So…how's that for a job well done?" asked Terriermon sarcastically from his place on Henry's shoulder. "I think we only managed to save the city from being made flat as a pancake. I mean, it could be better but at least there's rubble."

"Terriermon…" Henry sighed, wishing, and not for the first time, that his partner would understand the definition of the word tact.

Yamaki snapped his lighter open with an extra hard flick, frowning slightly.

"The situation is stable now," he said. "Though I doubt the public will see it that way, all things considered, given the considerable, damage caused by the fighting…"

"Gee, like we didn't notice with all the buildings falling on top of us,"Rika snarled, folding her arms together. Henry shot another look at her, but she held steady with her gaze, challenging Yamaki to discipline her for her defiant attitude. Yamaki simply eyed her dispassionately, long used to her behavior.

And likely giving her leeway because of what happened with our friends, Takato especially, Henry thought. None of us are really in a calm mood right now…

Thinking of Takato lying on the ground, the tattered remains of his arm bleeding everywhere while his face grew pale made Henry pull his hands into tight fists. He felt a tremor work its way along his arms and he took a deep breath to still his mind. For a wonder, it worked.

For now, anyway.

Yamaki flicked his lighter open before nodding to them. "You kids did the best you could, considering the circumstances. I don't think anyone at Hypnos will dispute that, and I am grateful for your assistance. That said, the incident with Takato Matsuki isn't going to look good for the Tamer program and you need to be aware of that."

"I'd hardly call him saving the day an incident," Rika seethed, her fingers digging into her arms. Henry caught a flash of light in her eyes, and for a second, he thought she was about to tear into Yamaki and try to belt him. Instinctively, he placed a hand on her shoulder, and found himself nearly recoiling in surprise, feeling the raw, steel-like tension that lay just beneath the surface.

"Ah… Will he be okay?" Kenta asked, sensing that it would be a good idea to intercede now. "Is there anything we can do?"

"For now, no," Yamaki shook his head, flicking his lighter closed. "Takato's in the hospital's hands now, and we've already taken the opportunity to inform his parents as well as the others about the situation with their children and are making transportation arrangements for them. Until we know more, there's not much else that can be done."

Reaching up, he took his sunglasses off and fixed each of them with a surprisingly sympathetic look. Henry tried to imagine how they must have looked, dirty and roughed up as they were. It struck him as to how often in their career as Tamers they came out of fights looking a little worn around the edges.

Nothing's ever been this bad though, he thought, feeling his nails bite into the palms of his hands. That digimon that bio-emerged…

"My advice for you all is to go home, get cleaned up and get some rest," Yamaki continued, flicking his lighter open more softly. "The days ahead are going to be hard and you'll all need to be at your best for them."

Kenta drew his unconscious, pink-fairy partner all the more tightly to him. Henry watched him for a moment, guessing what was going through his mind. While MarineAngemon couldn't regrow Takato's lost limb, unlike Kazu and Ryo he could certainly help speed along his recovery.

At least once he regains consciousness, the half-Chinese Tamer thought before turning his attention to Yamaki.

"Is there a chance that you can convince the doctors to let Kenta and MarineAngemon work their magic on Takato?" he asked the head of Hypnos. "He's already at the Mega level, so there's very little chance that he'll disrupt any electrical equipment there."

Yamaki furrowed his brow in thought. "I'll confer with the hospital he'll be staying at. Until then, you should all see to yourselves."

With nothing more to be said, Yamaki nodded to them and headed off, leaving Kenta looking as though he were about to cry with relief at being offered an opportunity to help their injured friend.

"T-Thanks…" he stammered out to Henry, who offered him a comforting smile.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, while Terriermon proceeded to climb atop his head.

"You might want to get some new glasses first though," the long-eared, cream-furred dog-bunny advised, settling himself. "Your current ones look a little bit beat up."

"I-I've got a spare set at home," Kenta nodded, sniffing loudly and messily. "Oh man… This… Today… Kami, today is just…just messed up!"

"That's putting it mildly," Terriermon agreed, massaging a bruised, roughed up ear, looking off in the direction that the ambulance had gone before settling on Rika and Renamon, the latter of whom was now cradling the still unconscious Gigimon, gently stroking his side. "So… Who's going to give him the bad news?"

"Might as well be me," Rika said, turning away. "I've…got to break it to Jeri anyway. She's…"

The fire-haired girl trailed off as she also cast her eyes off in the direction the ambulance went in. Seeing this, Henry's eyes softened.

"Rika… It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. It comes with the job and this…is just how the cards fell this time around. You know that, right?"

"Of course, I know that!" Rika snapped angrily, her violet eyes blazing fiercely as she spun around on him, and for the first time he saw them shimmering and damp from emotion she was just barely keeping in check. Seeing him notice, she narrowed her eyes dangerously and a single tear slipped free, tracing a path down her face. "Go ahead and laugh," she said in a low, menacing voice, her fists trembling violently.

"Rika…" piped in Terriermon, still laying atop Henry's head. "I wouldn't even laugh about this. You know that, so momentai why don't you? We're all friends here."

Rika looked as though she were about to say something to Terriermon, but she abruptly jerked and looked over at Renamon, who shook her head at her.

"Look," Henry sighed. "Yamaki's right. We're all pretty out of it right now. Let's just…go home and get our heads on straight. We can attack this later. I know that's asking for a lot right now, but…" He paused, weighing his next words carefully. "…it's really all we can do right now."

"I'm not staying home for very long," Rika growled, wiping a fist across her face to remove the offending tear from her visage. "First chance I get I'm going to the hospital."

"He's going to be in surgery for a while you know," Kenta pointed out, earning him another sharp, angry look from Rika that caused him to flinch before she turned a challenging glare at Henry, who, for his part simply shrugged. At this point there wouldn't be any stopping her, and frankly, he couldn't think of any solid way to stop her. Or even a reason for that matter.

"We'll see you later," he said. "If you get there before any of us do, give us a call and let us know if you learn anything new about how Takato or the others are doing."

"Sure," Rika nodded stiffly before finally breaking away, only to pause a second later to look at Gigimon, who remained snuggled safely in Renamon's arms. Her expression softened and she looked up at Renamon meaningfully. Not for the first time did Henry get the feeling that the two of them were speaking to one another without exchanging words, and a moment later, as if on some unspoken agreement, Renamon moved closer to her human partner, passing Gigimon into her arms. Rika drew him close, tears flowing more freely now, and she stood there for a moment longer, simply holding the tiny digimon before quickly turning away, once more resuming her trek, stroking the ears of Takato's partner comfortingly. After a moment, she broke into a run and disappeared around a corner, Renamon quickly vanishing along with her.

"I…guess I'll see you later, huh?" Kenta asked quietly, still remaining rooted to the ground. Henry looked at him before nodding.

"Yeah…" he said simply, not sure what else there was to say. Feeling as though he should have something more to say, he added, "Stay in touch."

He heard Kenta say something in response, but he missed it as he started off, already losing himself in the fog of his mind.

###

Renamon followed Rika as she ran through the broken city streets, keeping some distance to allow the girl some time to disentangle her thoughts and feelings, doing much the same for herself as well, finding that it was much needed after the day's events. Landing upon a rooftop, she closed her eyes, and almost immediately, images of Takato's injured state flashed through her mind, leaving her feeling, for a moment, the memory of his blood clotting her fur once more and she glanced down at herself. She shuddered involuntarily. She wasn't unfamiliar with the substance. Rika and each of her friends received numerous injuries over the years in the forms of scraped knees and the like, and digimon also bled after a fashion, a kind of programmed mimicry of the human world's nature. Even so, she had been shocked by the sheer amount of it and how detrimental its loss had been to their comrade.

It was…so warm as well, she thought, bringing one paw to rest on the tuft of her fur and feeling the tangle of caked fur. Opening her eyes, she trailed Rika as she lost herself behind the tree line of Shinjuku Park and Renamon leapt into the air, teleporting directly behind her. She looked at her partner's back as the girl began to slow down, panting heavily, her body shaking. She suddenly became aware of how that warmth, so similar to Takato's, lay just beneath the surface of Rika's skin, and just how fragile humans truly were.

I have always been aware of this before, she thought. But it…feels as though I never truly was. Rika… How do you humans live, knowing how fragile you are?

Her ear twitched, catching wind of noise from her partner, and it took her a moment to realize that Rika was doing her best to cry as quietly as she could, her breath coming out in jagged heaving. Approaching her, she laid a paw on her shoulder, her tail flicking about her comfortingly.

"Rika?"

"I'm…I'm fine," Rika said, her tone insistent, though it was clear to Renamon that she was anything but. "I just…need to catch my breath."

Renamon gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.

"Would you like for me to take you the rest of the way home? It won't be any trouble, I assure you."

"No." Rika shook her head. "I…I need to think. Clear my head before I meet Mom and Grandma. And…And I don't want you to waste your energy. Not after all that. I…"

Shuddering again, Rika sniffed and took a moment to adjust her grip on Gigimon, tucking him under her chin and rocking him softly against her. As she watched, Renamon saw Gigimon respond to this, his face tightening up before settling down, ears twitching and then stilling. Nodding to herself at this, the fire-haired girl resumed walking, and Renamon watched her go, and after a moment, she heard Rika begin humming quietly to the tiny, crimson digimon. It was a slow, melancholic tune, and Renamon's expression softened ever so slightly.

I think…I understand you humans a little better now… she thought before vanishing once more into thin air, continuing to maintain her vigil over the two from a respectful distance.

###

Henry arrived at his family's apartment, finding it empty save for their belongings. He wasn't surprised, as the military had given the evacuation order at the first alert from Hypnos. Closing the door behind him, he took off his shoes and padded into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator, his expression dull and exhausted. Opening the fridge, he found the tray of sealed manju buns his mother had made just before the digimon's bio-emergence, a note taped to the top, its message surrounded with hearts.

For when you come home, it read. Feeling tears well up in his eyes, Henry wiped at his face, clamping down on the rising torrent of emotion.

"You've been quiet," he said to his partner, pulling out the manju buns and a can of soda, passing the former to his partner as the long-eared rabbit-dog hopped off his head and onto the kitchen counter.

"Talking felt kind of inappropriate," he replied, pulling off the plastic wrapping. "I know, imagine that. But besides… I don't even know what to say."

"Yeah," Henry agreed, looking out the window of the apartment where, off in the distance, large plumes of black smoke rose into the sky like a locomotive cutting across the city. "Me neither."

He stood there, transfixed by the sight. It was easy to follow the trail of devastation, a straight scar that ran the length of the city's horizon, though their homes remained, fortunately, safely distant from it all. Taking a manju bun, he moved to bite into it, only to pause when he saw his hand shaking. Clenching his eyes shut, he grabbed hold of his wrist, willing it to still, and for a wonder it did.

Terriermon wawtched all of this with concerned, dark eyes.

"You want to talk about what happened, Henry?"

Henry forced himself to take a bite from the manju bun, barely registering its taste. Seconds passed in silence until, finally, Terriermon bit into his own manju before striking up the chords of conversation.

"Fine, if you won't, then I will. Today was messed up, but we made it. We saved the city and probably the whole planet once again."

"At least there's a silver lining in all of this."

"Hey, Takato's alive so far, Rika," Terriermon quipped. "That's a pretty good silver lining. I'm just…" He stuffed the rest of the manju bun into his mouth and swallowed it in one, big gulp. "I don't know. I'm just being honest. You know how I am. No tact."

Henry nodded in agreement at that, his eyes falling on the fridge's door, landscape his little sister's drawings had invaded over the years with steadily increasing improvement. His fingers tightened on the manju still in his hand, nearly crushing it.

"Henry?" Terriermon asked, seeing this. "I know it's hard, but…can't you talk to me about something? It's not good for either of us if you bottle things up like you did when we first became partners."

Forcing his grip to relax, Henry took a deep, shuddering breath. "I…know. I was just thinking. Thinking about earlier. When Rika and I were tying off Takato's arm, all I could think about was that…at least Suzie wasn't here. That she was off seeing our grandparents in Hong Kong. I… I…"

Suddenly the shakes returned, this time worse than before, and they quickly spread across his entire body. Dropping the manju, Henry grabbed the edge of the counter to steady himself, breathing heavily in short, deep, rapid bursts. Hot tears sprang to life in his eyes and spilled down his face. Seeing this, Terriermon quickly leapt onto his partner's shoulder, wrapping his long, arm-like ears about him and hugging him tight.

"Whoa! Henry! Come on! Momentai! It's all right!"

"It's not all right!" Henry exploded with a gasp, slamming a fist on the counter. "It's all my fault! If I hadn't…!"

"Hey! Hey!" Tightening his grip, Terriermon swung himself about and jumped over onto the table directly in front of the half-Chinese teen. "What was it you said to Rika earlier?"

The diminutive dog-bunny digimon planted his tiny paws on his round, doughy hips in an authoritative manner and huffed loudly. Henry just shook his head in clear defiance of his partner's attempt to keep him from beating up on himself.

"But I…" he began, only for Terriermon to quickly cut over him, not having it.

"You said it's no one's fault! It's just how the cards played out! We got taken down and Takato jumped in and took our place in the plan because the opportunity was there and we were getting our butts kicked! Any one of us would have done the same, he just happened to be faster and still biomerged!"

Terriermon held Henry's eyes until, finally, the teen looked away, shame burning on his face.

"I know you're right. I just…can't help feeling responsible."

"I get that, but momentai already. Feeling responsible is Takato's job, not yours. He doesn't need two arms for that anyway."

"Terriermon!"

"Finally, something other than you feeling sorry for yourself," Terriermon replied, shaking his head. "You know it's not going to do any good. Take Yamaki's advice and go catch a nap, okay?"

"Not until I've talked to my parents at least," Henry sighed, wandering over to the cordless phone and picking it up off the hook. "I've got to at least let Mom know that the danger's over."

"All right, but after that, it's bed-bye time for you, got it? I know you. You'll overdo it if you don't take a break."

Henry said nothing in response as he went over to the couch in front of the window overlooking Shinjuku, the sun setting behind the cloud of billowing black smoke. Terriermon watched him plop down on it before returning to devouring manju buns. It was on his third one that he realized that he hadn't heard anything from Henry since he went to make his calls. Curious, he hopped down and made his way over to the couch, finding him slumped over on the cushions, passed out, the phone still in his hand with the dial tone humming from the earpiece.

"Henry?" Terriermon asked worriedly, jumping onto the couch and poking him with an ear. Henry groaned and shifted, but otherwise did not awaken from his slumber. Pressing an ear to the teen's forehead to take his temperature, Terriermon sighed.

"Out like a light, huh? Well, it was a pretty rough day."

Reaching out with the hand-like appendages on his ears, he lifted up a blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over his partner before collecting the phone.

"Momentai, Henry," he said, deciding to call the boy's parents for him, already dialing the number to Mayumi's cellphone. "Momentai."

###

Jeri Katou's hair bounced on the edges of her shoulders as she hurried along the streets of Setagaya, having bid her friends from her school goodbye after a hard day of hanging out and was now eager to hurry up and get home. Taking out her cell phone – a relatively inexpensive flip phone Rika helped her pick out a year ago – she checked for messages. Her conversation with Rika earlier in the day had been interrupted by the bio-emergence of a Wild One, but she promised they would pick things back up after she and the others wrapped things up.

That had been over an hour ago.

Why do I feel like something's not right? she wondered, wishing she could check for news on her phone. Uncertain as to whether or not she should try bothering her friends at this point, given the likelihood that they were being debriefed by Yamaki, she opted to wait a little bit longer to give everyone a chance to settle down. Battling wild digimon, she knew, was not something from which a person could just get into and then return to normal life as though nothing had happened. Still, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was off.

I'm sure I'm just being silly, she thought, approaching her home, a tavern, just like her old home had been back in Shibuya before her father made the decision to move, following the Parasimon invasion three years ago. Slipping in through the side door, she found her stepmother – Shizue – in the kitchen, preparing dinner, the sound of the news echoing from the old television sitting on the counter. Pausing, Jeri listened carefully and decided to join her.

"I'm home," she greeted cheerfully, and Shizue turned around, her expression pensive, something that caused Jeri to tilt her head to one side in concern.

"Jeri! I…" Relaxing, the woman approached her and took hold of the girl into her arms. Jeri felt a momentary stiffening of her body against her stepmother – a relic from when she was younger – before returning the hug.

"Is everything all right?" she asked after a moment. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Drawing back, the round-faced woman wiped at her eyes. "Well… I've been listening to the news. There was another digimon attack in Shinjuku. A bad one." Turning to the television, she raised the volume for her stepdaughter and urged Jeri to get closer so she could hear properly. Jeri felt her hand come to rest on her shoulder, her grip tense, but loving, as though she were trying to lend her some support. What Jeri heard next made her heart pause in its beat as her blood ran cold.

"…twenty dead and fifty injured so far in what is described as the worst digital attack since the Parasimon invasion from three years ago," the reporter said. "Of the Tamers who fought the rampaging digimon, three were injured and one of them remains in critical condition. We'll continue to report as the situation continues to develop…"

Turning down the volume, Shizue turned Jeri around and pulled her into a tight hug. Jeri blinked, tears burning at the corners of her eyes. Three of her friends were hurt? One of them badly? How bad? Questions and emotions poured in and she clenched her eyes shut, allowing a tear to spill out as she returned her stepmother's hug.

"I…I need to make a call," she whispered, and the woman tightened her grip around her before nodding. "I need to find out what happened."

"Let me know what you want to do afterward, and I'll do my best to help," she replied, pulling away. Nodding her thanks, Jeri hurried out of the kitchen, Jeri whipped out her cellphone and immediately pulled up Rika's number. Before she could hit the call button, her phone buzzed, the very same person in question having, true to form, beat her to the punch.

"R-Rika!" she exclaimed as she hit the reply button. "I just saw the news! What happened? Who's been hurt? Are you all right?"

"Kazu, Ryo and…Takato," came the girl's voice on the other end, sounding thick with exhaustion and hesitancy. "Jeri. You're going to need to sit down for this one. Takato… He's… Kami… There's no right way to say this. Jeri, he's lost his arm."

Jeri felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and she grabbed hold of the wall to steady herself. Lost… Lost his arm? Takato… She felt her heart clench painfully as black spots formed along her vision. Shaking her head, she willed them to disappear. This was not the time for such things. She needed to be strong!

Drawing her hand into a tight fist, her eyes becoming firm. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself.

"What hospital is he staying at?" she asked fervently.

###

Rika set her cellphone down on her table and leaned forward, taking slow, deep breaths. In spite of her attempts to settle herself, it just didn't happen. Her muscles remained tense and tight, and in the darkness of her mind, she still saw her friend, lying there amidst his own blood, growing pale. And somehow, through it all, he still managed to find the strength to smile at her.

Stupid…Gogglehead! she thought bitterly, her eyes brimming with tears once more. She wiped at them furiously, angry that she never seemed to have an end of them. Did you even know you were dying?

She curled her hands into tight fists at that thought, hating it and hating herself for thinking it. Takato wasn't dying! They saved him, and now he was at the hospital getting patched up. Doctors fixed things like this all the time, didn't they? Why should this time be any different?

"Rika?" came the voice of Seiko from behind her, causing the girl to jump in surprise and spin around. The greying woman looked at her apologetically and approached.

"I just got off the phone with Jeri. She's on her way over." She sniffed. "How's Gigimon?"

"Still sleeping," Seiko replied, placing a hand on her shoulder, massaging it. "Renamon just got out of the shower. You should probably go in there and get cleaned up before your friend gets here."

"There's lots of time," Rika snorted, but she nodded her agreement and got to her feet. Pausing at the door of her room, she placed a hand on the frame.

"Grandma?"

"Yes, Rika?"

Rika's mouth trembled, and her face appeared as though she were wrestling with her emotions, and after one, long minute, she shook her head.

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Rika? If you ever want to talk about what happened…"

"I know, Grandma." Rika closed her eyes, her stomach wrenching as she spoke. "Just…not now."

With that said, she padded down the hallway, passing the room where Gigimon was currently resting in, finding him curled up amongst a sea of blankets with Renamon standing watch over him, her fur a bit in disarray as she continued to dry herself off, but otherwise vastly cleaner than she had been earlier. That made Rika feel a little bit better, seeing her more back to normal. Not a whole lot, but a little. The kitsune nodded to her as she passed, and Rika did so in return before arriving at her destination. Sliding the door closed behind her, she leaned her head against it, feeling the warmth of Renamon's shower still lingering in the air, her skin prickling in response. Rolling her head over to one side, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She looked…better than she envisioned herself to be. Dirty for the most part, and her hair continued to be in disarray, but otherwise fine. She swallowed and closed her eyes to the sight.

Takato…

Slowly, ever so slowly, she slid down to the floor and drew one knee up to her face as she wrapped her arms about her leg, hugging it close. Once more the tears came, but this time there was no stopping or hiding them. Shaking, she kept her voice as quiet as possible as all the pent-up tension came out of her in one unstoppable flood. Her vision vanished beneath the waves of her pain and was soon replaced once more by that of her friend, continuing to smile up at her as he asked her if she were all right.

What…What were you doing, asking me that when you were hurt like that? W-Why…? Oh, kami… Takato…!

She let out an anguished cry and struck a fist on the floor hard. It hurt, but she ignored it. It was, after all, nothing compared to what her friend was feeling.

Jeri… I'm so sorry. I couldn't keep my promise…

9