Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A Spring Flowering

Chapter: 03

Takato and Guilmon exited Rika's home with the fire-haired girl behind them, bag slung over her shoulder and eyes half-closed in quiet contemplation. The boy's words with her grandmother echoed in her mind; that they would face the music together, just as they did before when their families found them sleeping together. It was one thing to say, though she was glad to hear Takato speak so confidently about it, but at the same time, execution was quite another thing altogether.

"You okay?" Takato asked as the girl fell into step beside him.

"Fine enough," Rika shrugged nonchalantly. "I just wish that the whole world would stop making our lives so complicated. I like what we do together, and…" She paused, blushed at the double-meaning to her words, and continued. "…and that should be enough. It's not like we're being reckless about everything."

Smiling softly, Takato slipped his hand into Rika's, matching his pace with hers.

"Yeah, but it's a parent's job to worry, right? Maybe one day, we'll be just like them, worrying about what our kids are doing."

Rika felt butterflies flutter in her stomach at the mention of having children and she glanced at Takato out of the corner of her eye, the memory of their night's romp flitting through her mind. It was clear, in spite of Takato's bright blush, that he remembered it as well (How could he forget? she found herself wondering sarcastically), but she knew him well enough to know that he would stand by his words.

Rika adjusted her grip on her bag, ignoring the dampness between her legs, a relic of their earlier attempts to clean her out from the night's fun.

We could be parents someday, she thought, and she tightened her grip around Takato's hand reflexively. Probably a lot sooner if we keep fooling around like this.

"Maybe," she admitted finally. "But I'm in no hurry to be one right now. Anyway, shouldn't we be coming up with a plan to talk to our families again about us? Or did you just want to hold hands the whole way?"

"I kind of like the idea of us holding hands," the boy beamed with a chuckle, and Rika muttered Gogglehead behind a blush in response.

"You're so cheesy," she grumbled. "But I'm serious."

"So am I," Takato said, giving her hand a soft squeeze. "Okay, I'm not the best at coming up with ideas or thinking out battleplans. I…kind of just wing it a lot of the time. But I think that as long as we show them that we know what we're in for, things should be all right."

Rika furrowed her brow at that.

"You have no idea how naïve you sound sometimes, you know that?" she asked sarcastically.

"I get that," Takato replied, a slight frown crossing his features. "But the cat is out of the bag now. It's been out of the bag for a while."

His red-eyes took on a distant look to them as he gazed down the path ahead, his expression thoughtful.

"Maybe I should look into getting a part-time job outside of the bakery."

Rika lifted an eyebrow at that.

"Takato, your school doesn't even allow you to do that."

"Only if they find out. I'm going to be 18 in a couple months, and it would be a good idea to have a little extra money handy in case something does happen because we…you know."

Takato's face turned bright scarlet as he glanced back at Rika, and the girl found herself shifting her grip on her bag once more, knowing what he meant all too well.

"A-And it'd prove to our families that we know what we're in for too," the boy continued, stammering a little as the heat baked across his brain. "Come on. It's not that bad an idea. What about you? Do you have any ideas?"

Rika paused mentally on his idea, rolling it around in her mind for a moment.

Getting a job, huh? We're at that age, and I'm already eighteen. I don't want to have to depend on my family for everything.

She tried to imagine herself still living with her mother and grandmother. It would be fine, she supposed, if she were a Tamer in some official capacity to Hypnos, but at present that remained to be seen. If she couldn't depend on it, she would need to come up with an alternate plan, which was the point of their current topic.

Her eyes narrowed in thought, and she found herself squeezing Takato's hand a little bit tighter.

Funny how our relationship has changed so much about our lives. It's almost like we're talking about getting married.

Married…

An image came to mind of her wearing a long, white dress – the one she saw her mother wear in pictures of her wedding day – and Takato, wearing a nice, dark suit and tie. At once, scarlet invaded her cheeks and she found herself all but crushing Takato's hand in her grasp.

"Ah… Ow… Rika… That hurts…"

"Sorry," she mumbled apologetically, quickly releasing her grip.

"What happened?" the boy asked worriedly, shaking his hand to get the circulation running again. "You looked like you were thinking of something…um…embarrassing."

"It's nothing," Rika grunted, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as they reached a corner. "Forget it. Besides, isn't this where you should turn off to go to school now?"

Takato blinked in confusion. "I kind of thought I'd walk to your school first before heading off. I mean, I thought we were going to get a bite to eat and brainstorm ideas for talking to our parents…"

"I already told you I'm not letting the girls at my school get their eyes on you," Rika said fiercely. "If you don't want me hurting anyone, then you'll stay as far away from my school as you can."

Takato tilted his head to one side questioningly, sensing that there was more going on with her behavior than she was letting on. He knew though that when she became squirrely like this, it would take some time for her to settle down before she could open up.

"Well, what about getting something to eat at least," he said, offering the girl a smile. "We could kind of make it a date. There's a nice place that sells…"

"Takato."

Reaching up, the girl settled her hands on the boy's shoulders and she leaned forward. Their lips met, and for a moment, there was only the soft warmth of their love for one another. Instinctively, Takato's hand rose up, gliding boldly along her hip and up her back before she pulled away.

"We'll talk later," Rika said, her violet eyes gazing into his warm, red ones. "After school at Guilmon's old place. Just don't be late, got it?"

"I promise to the sunset," Takato smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth. "But…are you sure you don't…?"

"Go to school, Takato," Rika said, stepping away, a small smile curving on her lips. Before either of them could say anything further however, an alarm sounded on their digivices, signaling that a digimon was bio-emerging into the real world, and at once both teens whipped them out, holographic circles rising from their screens, the compass function swinging around wildly to locate the source. Behind them, Guilmon rose up on his haunches, wing-like ears twitching, yet oddly he remained calm, quite unlike his normal behavior whenever a wild digimon breached the barriers between the worlds.

"Guilmon?" Takato asked, Renamon phasing into view behind Rika, appearing as battle-ready as she could in her current condition.

"I smell…" Guilmon tested the air with a few sniffs before frowning. "I don't know. But it's small, whatever it is."

"Must be small," Rika said, glancing down at the receding holographic circles. "Our digivices have stopped complaining. Either that or Yamaki already took care of it. Renamon?"

"I sense nothing," the vulpine digimon replied with a shake of her head before wincing at the action. "However, I must confess that I am not in the best position to confirm whether a digimon has entered our world or not."

One paw rose up to her head, and she grimaced noticeably. Rika gave her partner a sympathetic look. It would appear that the kitsune was a long way from recovering from her alcoholic binge with her mother.

Kami, mother…

"Well, it doesn't look like it's a problem now, so we should get going."

Fixing Takato with a hard look, she reached out and jabbed a finger into his breast bone.

"Don't be late," she repeated with a soft smile before stepping away and heading off, Renamon vanishing from view as she did so. Takato watched her go for a moment before Guilmon nudged him with a claw.

"Takato? You're going to break your promise if you keep standing there, watching her."

The teen gave a light laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Right. I'll see you later, Guilmon. Hopefully my parents won't be too freaked out. Uh… Wait, how were they when you were with them last night? The way Rika's grandmother sounded, they were pretty upset."

"I…think they were a little upset?" Guilmon said questioningly, scratching at his chin with one claw. "I don't know. I was paying attention to Renamon, and the stuff we were drinking made me feel so sleepy…"

Guilmon sighed, a smile drawing across his face.

"Renamon's lap is so soft and fuzzy. And warm…"

"I think that's my cue to get out of here," Takato chuckled in embarrassment, starting off with a wave. "I'll see you later, Guilmon."

"Hah? Oh, okay. Bye."

Waving a claw at his departing partner, Guilmon watched him go for a moment before sniffing the air once more, testing for the scent from whatever it was that had bio-emerged earlier. He could smell something, though it was faint and difficult to pinpoint. Without much else to do, he decided to see if he could track it down before heading down to the new bakery.

It might be important, he thought, questing off down the streets and in the direction of the park.

###

As Guilmon and Takato parted ways, a dark-haired girl wearing a blue hairclip stepped into view from an alleyway, dark-eyes following them. Her lips, a pale pink twisted into a pout and her fingers took a handful of the skirt of her school uniform, the same as Rika's, clutching it tightly before releasing it. Her eyes flitted back and forth between the dinosaur and the human, as if trapped by indecision. Finally however, after what felt like an eternity to the girl, she adjusted her grip on her school bag and hurried after Guilmon, keeping a careful distance so as to not be seen.

###

Guilmon made his way through the brush of the park, snuffling dirt and air as he went. The scent was becoming stronger now. Without a doubt, there most definitely was something here, and had not been cleaned up by Yamaki, as Rika surmised. Continuing along, he found that it took him to the stairwell that led up to his old home. Smiling, he hurried up their length, his digi-core pulsing with excitement.

Could it be…? he thought, his thoughts going back to the time that he discovered a digital portal beneath his old home. It wasn't a portal of course, as it didn't smell like it, but the smell combined with the location was so…nostalgic.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he found the last remnants of the digital field dissipating. Pulling open the gate, his ears twitching at the sound of the familiar creak of the old iron, he looked down and found an egg sitting there, a pair of green rings at its top. Bending down, he lifted it up and gave it a good sniff. The egg was warm, and buzzed with a light electric feeling. It felt very cozy in his hands, and it felt as though he were hugging an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Hi," he greeted it happily. "My name is Guilmon. What's your name?"

The egg, of course, had no response for him. Cradling it in his arms, he considered it, wondering what to do. Takato wasn't here to help him figure out how to handle this. The possibility of taking it to Hypnos was there, but was that a good idea? Was it the right thing to do?

Renamon will know.

Yes. That sounded about right. Renamon always knew the right thing to do about everything.

Turning, he darted out of his old hut and down the stairs, clutching the egg close to him. Renamon would help. The thought burned in him with utter certainty. There was nothing she couldn't do.

###

The girl hid behind a tree as Guilmon dashed down the bottom of the stairs and took off at a rapid pace down the path. Her dark-eyes widened as she saw what he was holding. Her lips parted, as if to call out to the red dinosaur, only to hesitate.

That hesitation was all the time Guilmon needed to be out of earshot of the girl. Clutching her bag close to her, she chewed on her lip for a moment, her legs shaking, before she finally summoned her courage and ran after the dinosaur.

"Takato…" she whispered in a fearful, panicky voice, doing her best to keep the crimson reptile in sight as she raced down the park path in pursuit of both dinosaur and egg.

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