Disclaimer: Sorry for any confusion with the link last chapter. I didn't realize they'd block it like that. To read the CD Drama translation, go to digitalscratch PERIOD pmsinfirm PERIOD (o) (rg) /?p = 551 Just take out the spaces and parenthesis, and replace the PERIODs with actual periods.
Theme Song: "Wedding Dress" by Matt Nathanson, "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye ft. Kimbra
Author's Note: A major thank you to Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine, YuYuDigiMoon Fan, Sword Dancer Sapphy, and Danparker for the reviews, favorites, and alerts! That makes me feel really happy to know you are enjoying it! I hope you continue to do so. This chapter introduces a bit of a plot with a villain! Yay!
Wedding Gowns
Chapter 2
By the time Kari arrived in the dark alley, Davis and Keiko were screaming at each other, half the things said being things Kari couldn't even understand between their shrieks.
"I KNEW you'd go back to her!" Keiko was shouting. "The SECOND I start believing I may have misjudged you, I find you here!"
"Yeah, how convenient! I haven't even seen you since you dumped me!" Davis shouted back. "Gotta tell ya Keiko, this whole destiny thing is getting a little irritating! Whatever. I don't even know what you're talking about."
"That girl, you're always hanging around her—"
"Please.I also always hang around Yolei, who is one of my best friends, and if you think I'd ever touch that idea with a ten foot pole—"
"You're always talking about her, Davis! Kari! She's one of the most experienced Destined... She helped me, all those years ago against BelialVamdemon." Keiko's expression saddened. "Can't say I blame you for choosing her..."
"I haven't 'chosen' anyone," Davis replied more harshly than he meant to. "God, Keiko, she hasn't even been here for four months! She's only been in Japan for a few hours! We're friends, just friends, we've always been just friends! Besides, you left me! What does it matter to you who I date?!"
We've always been just friends...
The words hit Kari, she didn't know why. All those times she yelled at Davis that the two of them were just friends, that she and TK were just friends—
Keiko paused, then shook her head, the anger on her face more severe than before.
"Do you think I'm stupid?! You were holding hands!"
"She was comforting me because I was sad. Sad about YOU. SERIOUSLY, Keiko, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? You left me because I care too much, now you're yelling at me for not caring enough!"
"I..." Confusion swam in her eyes, then melted to a glisten. "I miss you," she whispered, her voice breaking.
Davis fell silent.
I shouldn't be here, Kari thought, stepping away. Her head felt a little hazy at first, but she wasn't sure why. Davis and Keiko... Keiko was the girl then? His ex-girlfriend? The Dark Spore girl from their fight in the Dream Realm, the one who said she'd be a baker? Of course. She was pretty. Her hair was longer than Kari's. Her legs were longer, too. She had this sort of deep, sultry voice, unlike Kari's voice— Why am I comparing myself to her? Kari thought, shaking her head. This isn't my drama... I should go. This is private.
Davis saw her movements out of the corner of his eye. He swerved around to view her, his eyes widening with surprise. But before he could call her name, she took a step back, then another, and before she knew it, she had turned her back and was walking away. Davis's voice caught in his throat, unable to say her name. Kari didn't think she would have wanted him to. He missed Keiko. He spoke so fondly of her, like he truly did love her, and this wasn't any of Kari's business. She didn't know why she'd even followed him into the alley in the first place.
Because you care about him, Kari thought. He's your friend. He's always been just your friend.
Right?
Kari wandered aimlessly through the streets of Odaiba. She hadn't even realized it when her feet carried her all the way back to Babamon's wedding gown store. She lingered in front of the glass window again, watching the way the dresses drifted over the floors. Babamon must have closed shop because all the lights were off, the windows wiped clean and the floors swept and mopped. Kari imagined herself a small child again, dressed in her mother's white Chimmy Choos, the dress Davis picked out for her... angel-white layers of silk, gliding over the aisles. Free as a bird.
She was a Destined, though. Her first priority was keeping Earth and the Digital World safe, and making sure humans and digimon could live peacefully together. Even if she had the money for it, she didn't have time for romance, or weddings. Or dresses. Or the products to maintain long hair...
I should be getting home, she thought, turning away from the store. Gatomon is probably worried. Besides, I can't wait to see Tai's face when I show up.
"Yo, Kari!"
At that second, the sound of footsteps halted her in her trek. Unfortunately, she chose to stop on a patch of ice, which resulted in her fumbling around. Seconds later, she lost her balance completely and fell face-forward into the person calling her name...
...Face-planting herself right into his lap, in fact, seeing as she knocked him over when she in turn slipped.
"Owowowowow..." the guy moaned, rubbing his backside. He saw where Kari's face landed and blushed, but quickly looked away as if to pretend he hadn't noticed. "Jeez Kari, this is twice in one night. I'm starting to question whether or not you were a varsity cheerleader."
Kari blushed as she looked up to see who cushioned her fall. "Davis, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," he replied with a frown. "You just took off. I've been looking everywhere. Was worried you might have gotten kidnapped or something— you know, by anti-digimon activists or people wanting to ransom Gennai or something."
"Oh, no, I just..." Kari felt her cheeks grow hot. She avoided his gaze. "I saw you with Keiko," she said in a very small voice. "Thought I should give you some privacy."
"Privacy. Ah. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck.
Kari cleared her throat. "So... did you two... uh..."
"So did we two uh what?"
He grinned, hoping she'd catch the throwback. She tried to smile back, then shook her head. Maybe I don't want to know... This Davis was so different from the one she knew. No, no he's not, she then thought, which made her feel confused. He's exactly the same. A little more mature, but they're one in the same. I just never realized it.
Her eyes clouded over. Heat filled her chest and her head. She'd been feeling off ever since the café, but especially now it hit her. She wobbled to a stand.
Davis's brow furrowed. "You okay?"
"I'm..." Hazily, she stumbled back. Davis caught her by the shoulder and pulled her upright. Her skin flickered white, then back to its normal shade. Davis's brow furrowed.
"Kari?"
"I'm alr..." Just then, the world oozed together in a chasm of rainbow colors that swirled and blurred and twined until they were all a big black spot in the center of her vision. The big black spot swelled until it consumed her entire sight, leaving her in a pit of darkness that seethed at the edges.
Kari Kamiya fainted.
(-'102012001'-)
From the shadows, he watched her. The boy – the Davis boy – scrambled around to catch her before she could crack her skull on the concrete. Cradling her in his arms, he dashed off in the direction of a nearby apartment, calling out her name in a panicked tone, trying to wake her up.
His eyes followed the two human pests. How much he would have liked to steal the girl from Davis, then his plan would come to fruition. Everything was going according to scheme, and he was very excited.
Davis...
How long had it been since he'd seen the boy?
He'd traveled a long way for this moment. He wouldn't let anything spoil it.
Once Davis and the girl disappeared from view, he returned to the dark alley where he'd watched the scene. His claws sunk into a cloth and ripped it from the walling. Behind the shawl was a door to another room, leading from the alleyway.
Disguises were his forte. He could hide a room easier than he could hide himself. Make it look like just another wall in an alley, when really, it was a door.
He stepped inside. There were three cages on the floor. One was empty. Another cage held a human girl with dark hair and pretty eyes, who gently said his name, begging him to release her. The third and final cage held an unconscious feline, her eyes squeezed shut, her claws scratching the floor.
"Time to wake up, Gatomon."
(-'102010192010'-)
Kari swam in and out of consciousness from that point on. Sometimes there was a light shining in her face, bright and warm, other times she heard voices. Some of them she recognized, some of them she didn't. Once or twice she thought she heard someone humming. She wondered if it was her mother.
At one point, her surroundings came into focus enough for her to notice three faces staring down at her. They were blurry, sure, but she recognized their shape. Tai's overly spiky hair, his hand holding hers, his brow crinkled in worry. A flash of Davis's goggles behind him, watching her cautiously. TK's hat and blond hair, those beautiful blue eyes that stared into her own with a rare intensity that had always confused her.
Kari gave a tired smile and clenched Tai's hand. "My boys..." she murmured, then closed her eyes and drifted off again.
The next time Kari fully woke up, it was dawn. The scorched oranges and pinks of a rising Sun peered through the blinds and glowed against her face. It was the warmth that woke her. Her eyes opened half-lidded. For a second, she watched the dust motes flutter through the sunlight.
How long had she been asleep?
At least through the night. What happened? Where was Gatomon?
Just then, she heard her door creak open.
"Mom?" she whispered, leaning over the bed to see who entered her room.
It wasn't her mother. It wasn't even Tai or her father. In fact, it was Davis. He was carrying a tray of food, which he set down beside her bed on a nightstand. Kari watched him silently, her eyes narrowed, her fingers digging into the bedsheets.
"What happened?" she finally asked.
Davis looked at her. "You had a fever and fainted. I brought you home. You're okay now, but we had to give you an ice bath."
"You..." She reddened slightly.
Davis grinned at her. "Well, I didn't. Your mom did. Apparently this happens a lot with you?"
"Since I was little, yeah," she replied, looking down at her hands. "But I haven't gotten that sick in a while. I didn't even realize how sick I was."
"Here, eat," Davis abetted, bringing the tray over to her. "We were able to get you to drink some water earlier in the night, but you were so out of it we weren't able to get you to drink much."
Kari nodded and allowed him to place the tray over her lap. There was a banana, crackers, and a big Ramen bowl of soup, though the soup itself wasn't Ramen. In fact, Kari wasn't exactly sure what kind of soup it was. It had a lot of noodles, though, whatever it was. She dipped in the chopsticks and inhaled a large whiff. It smelled good, too. Her stomach clenched at the thought of devouring it; a grumble gurgled in the pit of it.
She blushed and looked up at Davis, hoping he hadn't heard it. By his grin she could tell he had.
After blowing on it a few times, she took her first bite. If it looked and smelled appetizing, it was nothing compared to how it tasted. Spiced to perfection, she could taste bouillon, pepper, threads of chicken and pork and Parmesan cheese melted into the broth, subtle but strong enough to notice. The noodles were soft but not soggy.
After gobbling up half the soup, she finally looked up at Davis, who had taken a seat at her desk to watch her eat. The two stared for a while, then she said, "Davis, this is orgasmic."
He turned a deep shade of scarlet. And she thought he'd turned the color of a horseradish when she pulled him into the changing booth! That was nothing compared to his pallor now.
She couldn't help but giggle. "Hehe, you're a Pervymon."
"I am not a Pervymon!" he said defensively.
"You are, too."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"No!" He grew redder and redder by the second. "It's just... well, okay, yeah, that word... okay how could I not react like that?"
"Teehee."
After a few seconds of silence, Davis's blush still didn't wane.
"But it's also because..." With a frustrated frown, he looked down at his lap.
Kari raised an eyebrow. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's it. That's the recipe. Perfected. I haven't cooked it for anyone yet, not even Jun."
"The recipe...?" Oh. Oh! His noodle cart recipe! This was... this was his dream in her hands. She blinked down at it. "Davis, this is amazing. It's so much better than it used to be."
When he said it was the "perfected" recipe, he meant it. Kari had tried several of his recipes throughout the years, each one supposedly better than the other, and winced at the mere memory. Why, just the summer before they moved away to college, he'd made her the guinea pig to a truly awful concoction. She didn't even know what he put in it – she kind of didn't want to – but she thought her tongue would fall out of her mouth and her intestines would shrivel in her stomach, it was so terrible. One time she walked in on him experimenting with different recipes, and witnessed just in time an exploding guck that scorched off his eyebrows.
She seriously doubted at that moment whether or not he would actually accomplish his dream, because none of his recipes were any good! He couldn't even cook Spaghetti-Os without messing them up somehow, much less his own recipe.
But he did it.
And of all people, he had chosen her to try it first.
"Funny what just four months of chef school can do," Kari said with a grin.
He grinned back.
After she finished her meal, Kari finally looked back at him and said, "So where is everyone? Would have thought my mom would make me breakfast, not you." That's not to say I don't appreciate Davis's soup... Kari shuddered at the thought of eating her mother's cooking. At least she tried, though. Even if she failed miserably. It was kind of endearing, Kari supposed.
"Oh, your parents had to go to work, so I said I'd look after you until you felt better," he said, looking down with another frown.
Uh oh. She didn't like that look. That was his "something bad happened" look.
"What about my brother?" she asked, scooting the food tray back to her nightstand. "Why isn't he looking after me?"
"He's..." He cleared his throat. "He's doing something else."
Kari raised an eyebrow. "Must be something important, for him to abandon his sick sister and leave me in your care."
Davis half-heartedly glared at her. "Hey!"
She giggled, then continued with her investigation. "Why not TK? I can't see him just leaving me, especially if Tai can't take care of me."
"He and Patamon... went with Tai."
"Where?"
"They went to..." He again rubbed the back of his neck.
"They went where?"
"To look for Gatomon," he admitted, finally looking her in the eye. "Kari, do you know where she might have gone?"
Kari looked dumbstruck. They went off to look for Gatomon? Kari knew she'd lingered out with Davis longer than she meant to, but Gatomon would have been able to sense when Kari returned to the Kamiya apartment, or at least keep track of Kari's whereabouts. Gatomon knew the troubles of leaving her partner alone, especially in these rickety times between digimon and human relations. Destined were often used as bargaining chips between parties and she didn't want to see that happen to her partner, just like Kari didn't want to see that happen to Gatomon.
Already, just in the seven years the Earth had realized the existence of the Digital World, they had used digimon and Destined for their own selfish purposes. War. Mayhem. Assassination attempts. Betrayal and bloodbaths. Slaughter and coup. It was dangerous for a Destined to wander alone without his or her partner, and while Gatomon knew Kari could take care of herself, Gatomon also would know to keep a very close eye on her. Especially if it had been so many hours since they saw each other.
Kari tried to stand, but her vision blurred and she found herself sitting back down. "I have to find her," Kari said, her voice growing hoarse.
Davis shook his head. "That's why TK and Tai are out. You're too sick."
"And why didn't you go with them?" she snapped, trying to stand again. "You're always the brash guy who never has a plan when he goes rushing into battle! Why stay with the sick girl?"
"Because they wanted me to," Davis replied calmly. He frowned and looked away from her. "I was the first one to jump out the door, but Tai grabbed me and told me to stay put. I think he's worried someone might be after you. A few Destined have gone missing recently near here, and no one knows who the culprit is. There's a pattern. First the digimon partner goes missing, then the human. He wants me to protect you."
"I don't need your protection," she said through gritting teeth. Davis rested a hand on her shoulder and delicately sat her back down on the bed.
She didn't see V-mon anywhere. He was probably sitting on the couch watching TV, eating them out of house and home. Who did Davis think he was? She never asked for his help.
Davis leaned over so that the two of them were eye-to-eye. "Hey, you shouldn't bear this burden all on your own. Let us help you."
She'd told him the exact same thing in the café.
That was what Kari was doing, wasn't it? Trying to pull all the weight? Gatomon was her partner, her responsibility; so many times, Gatomon had saved Kari's life, but how many times had the responsibility fallen on Kari to save Gatomon? She had always wanted to, but she never could. Now Gatomon was missing and Kari was by herself, and Kari had no idea where to even start.
Out of the biggest surprises, this was the one she expected least.
"Should've seen Tai's expression when I showed up at the door carrying you, though," Davis said with a slight grin. "I'm sure it was everything you wanted it to be."
Kari allowed herself a smile.
She then nodded. "Okay. Just this once, I'll let you help me."
"Tai and TK wanted us to stay here so I could look after you, but..." He looked at the door, then back at her. "I won't tell them if you don't. Let's look for Gatomon, too. That's what I wanted to initially do, anyway."
He stretched out his hand to her.
Kari's eyes widened. Defy her brother's orders? She would never hear the end of it if he caught the two of them. And TK would be upset with her too, although he might be a bit more understanding than Tai. Tai had bad experiences of overworking Kari, because Kari hated to disappoint him.
Even though she could barely stand, she'd played soccer with him. She didn't want to see him sad, anything but that. The incident led to her hospitalization, and ever since then, he had never forgiven himself for what happened. Ever since then, she could rely on him to take care of her when she was sick, even when they were facing the Dark Masters.
But this time she was doing it for herself. She wasn't overworking her body in order to not disappoint anyone. Maybe it was selfish to do this against her brother's wishes, maybe it was selfish to get out of bed without the rest she so surely needed. Maybe it was irresponsible.
But that was her choice. Not her brother's.
"Let's go," she said, finally taking Davis's hand in her own.
He grinned and nodded.
"Besides," he said, "You're going to go looking for her whether or not anyone's here. It's better that I'm with you than without anyone, right?"
Davis had a digimon to defend them. He also had a digimon who could digivolve into Lighdramon, which could cover a good portion of the city in a half-hour if they hurried. It really was better she agreed to allow Davis's aid; without it, it would take her hours to search for her partner... plus with her illness, she could hardly move, much less walk or run or jog. And what if Gatomon really was in trouble and they would have to fight to bail her out?
He was right. Whether or not he decided to help her, Kari would have left to search for Gatomon. Luckily, she also had someone willing to help her.
Davis left the room to allow Kari time to change. Her movements were heavy and slow due to the weighted feeling in her head. By the time they moved, it was approaching noon; once they got up on the rooftops though, they moved at a high frequency, bounding from place-to-place.
About a half-hour into the search, Davis called to Lighdramon, "Do you see her anywhere?"
"I think I've caught her scent," Lighdramon said as a wind passed around them. He looked in several directions. Kari smiled. "It's faint, though. I can see how Tai and TK might have missed it if they haven't taken to the air."
Kari briefly wondered if they had gotten any other Destined in on this. Ken might be at work. Yolei was probably helping her parents run the shop during her week off from school – it always got so busy around the holidays – and Cody might be practicing with his grandfather. If that was the case, he wouldn't be paying attention to his D3 or his cellphone. Surely at least one or two of them had gotten in on the search as well? Matt and Sora might be at work as well since they were trying to afford their flat. Joe was definitely at the hospital at this time, and Izzy was working in the Digital World with Gennai in order to improve communications between Earth and the Digital World. Mimi was in America.
That really just left the four of them, searching endlessly for one digimon in a city with hundreds of digimon. There were even a couple of Gatomon beyond just Kari's.
Which meant the trail Lighdramon caught could have easily been another Gatomon and not necessarily Kari's. Maybe that was what took Tai and TK so long to find Gatomon as well. Maybe the scents they caught had belonged to stray Gatomon and not their Gatomon.
They landed hard on the ground in a back-alley. Kari shuffled around for a while, trying to keep her balance despite her woozy head. Glancing toward the two buildings the alley was squished between, she noticed one of them was very familiar.
"Davis," she whispered, tugging on his sleeve as he dismounted Lighdramon.
He blinked and looked in the direction she was pointing. There, they both realized it. It was the wedding gown shop.
The three hurriedly looked around. Kari lifted up the lid off garbage cans and Davis picked up littered cardboard boxes to see if she was asleep underneath one. They sifted through trash and slumbering digimon, until finally Lighdramon took in one long, drawn-out breath, and craned his neck toward one side of the alley.
Davis frowned at him. "What is it?"
"Can't be," Lighdramon said with a furrowed brow. "But... it's a wall?"
"What are you talking about?" said Kari.
"He's talking..." came a voice from an unknown location. Kari, Davis, and Lighdramon looked up at the sky, then toward the end of the alley, then toward the front. They peered around a couple dozen times looking for the source of the voice, but when they couldn't find it, the voice chuckled and continued, "...He's talking about this."
A bright light shredded a third of the building wall across the wedding gown shop, revealing shawls keeping it hidden. Inside was a dark room barely lit by a simmering candlestick. At the center of the darkness was a figure no one quite recognized, with glowing, smiling eyes, its body silhouetted so they could not quite make out the figure's appearance. Kari could see ears. A tail. Gloves and claws.
She frowned. "Gatomon...?"
"Gatomon?" the figure chuckled. "I am no Gatomon, silly girl. I... am BETSUMON!"
And the figure stretched out his arms, beams of white light shooting out of his palms. They ripped through the brick structure of the shop and sent part of the roof caving in. Luckily, most of the roof had survived. But Babamon would have surely heard the collision, would she investigate? Had she any idea this digimon was hiding across the building, even if he'd remained disguised?
Through the debris, three cages skyrocketed out of the dank room and levitated in the air above the digimon, whose appearance was finally revealed by the cracks of sunlight shining through the collapsed wall.
Kari held her mouth to stop herself from gagging. He looked atrocious. She didn't think she could ever forget such an appearance.
Sure, he looked like Gatomon. A little. He wore what looked like a Gatomon costume, with a hood bearing purple-tipped ears and striped gloves that bore claws. The costume even had a tail with a fake tailring glistening against the sunlight. His belly-button protruded awkwardly out of his stomach, right above an exaggerated crotch that obviously showcased his junk. The digimon's face was painted white with three black whiskers on each cheek, and a little pink blush to boot. Perhaps the most particular part about him, however, was his Cheshire-cat grin, with his teeth clenched, his eyes half-lidded.
He grinned. "As an ultimate, you can never defeat me! I will capture you, just like I captured them! The third cage awaits you, Kari Kamiya!"
There, in two of the three cages, Kari could see one human and one digimon. The human was a girl with dark hair and big almond-shaped eyes. She was pretty, but her cheeks were tearstained and her eyes were webbed by veins, her hands gripping the metal bars.
Davis stepped next to Kari, paling. "Keiko!"
"What's she doing in there?" Kari asked him. "I thought she was with you last night."
"I... I thought she was there, too..."
"Of course you thought she was!" Betsumon threw his head back in a cackle. "I had to distract you somehow, so I could get Kari by herself. I've been studying her for quite a while. It's no surprise she would wander off to give you some privacy. Or should I say... wander off to lick her wounds, her injured pride!"
Kari glared at him. "Are you saying I...?"
"Yes, I am!"
Kari looked at Davis, who gave her a clueless blink. Her face turned beet-red and she glared at Betsumon.
"Bah! Like I could ever! You... ugh... how could you even think... I mean, Davis...? You... You... Jerk!"
"Davis!" Keiko shouted, still gripping the bars, tears building again behind her eyes.
Davis's expression darkened. "What did you do to Keiko?"
Kari glanced over at him when he spoke. His voice had lowered to a growl, his eyebrows knitted together with a dragon-like glare. It gave Kari the shivers. Keiko was obviously very important to him...
"I did nothing. Ew. Don't you understand, you stupid boy?" Betsumon barked with laughter.
When Davis reiterated his clueless blink, Betsumon's barks turned into howls of laughter. "You weren't talking to Keiko...
"You were talking to ME!"
Betsumon ripped off his zipper, revealing clothes identical to the ones Keiko wore last night. He pulled down his hood, allowing dark tassels of hair to flow to his shoulders. Batting his eyelashes, they transformed their shape right into the almond-shape of Keiko's gaze. He puckered his lips and smooched the air in Davis's direction.
"That's right, baby... You got ROBBED!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
