Nature verses Nurture – ch3 – Secret!
Season – It's dats-esk in that it borrows from ideas from that season, human x digimon fighting, and the family bonds between a human and digimon.
Disclaimer – I don't own digimon, don't claim too. The humans and a few of the digimons to be introduced in later chapters are original.
Speech in /slants/ are spoken in Japanese.
The night was still and the small apartment was silent, all its occupants asleep except one. Soft cat paws padded down the hallway. The question Kouhei had asked her before they fell asleep was weighting heavy on her mind.
'What someone looks like doesn't always reflect whats inside, of course I know that. Kouhei's sensi always told us that and so did obaasan and ojiisan. But...' Gatomon's ears dropped as she thought things over. All these things she knew already but still, something deep within her stopped her from giving into friendship with the tall leather clad digimon. She let out a hiss in the dark. It frustrated her so to be at the mercy of some hidden programming.
/"What has so upset my favorite feline?"/ Gatomon turned to see ojiisan standing behind her. The little cat was so lost in her musings she hadn't even heard the old man approach. Once tall and straight, ojiisan's back had long since bent over and not a hair was left on his head. Jokingly, Kou and Gatomon called him the old turtle man.
/"Oh, Ojiisan. . . I don't know what's wrong with me. Have you ever been at odds with yourself?"/
Ojiisan chuckled at this. /"Oh little kitty, I have lived many years, and many a time I've had internal conflicts. Why do you ask this, what's on your mind. You can tell your ojiisan."/
Gatomon sighed. /"Well, I know what is right but deep in my heart I still feel some prejudice. You should not judge one on their appearances but something deeply embedded in my programing still causes me to do it."/ The little digimon looked ashamed as she spoke. /"I feel awful putting blame on my programing. I wish that in some ways I were more human so that my thoughts wouldn't be dictated by someone else."/
The old man chuckled at her uncertainty. /"Ho, so that's what's bothering you. You think that if you were a human you'd be free of such thoughts? It is human nature to be fear what they don't understand and what is different. We must just overcome these instincts or they will led to prejudices, false assumptions, and many missed experience because of fear."/
Ojiisan rubbed his neck and turned around to shuffle back to his room. /"We're all 'programed' with certain fears you just must rise above them little one. Next time you're faced with such feelings, ask yourself if your prejudice have any basing in fact."/ Gatomon watched him disappear down the hallway. Sighing heavily she padded back to Kouhei's room. She nestled into the blankets by the boy's head and drifted back into an uneasy sleep.
"Kouhei!"
Kouhei rolled over to his side, pulled his sheets around his face, and mumbled something incoherent.
Gatomon starred at her partner, a scowl on her face. On a small table sat a digital clock with the time 11:16 emblazon in blue digits. She crawled up to his face and took a deep breath. "KOUHEI!"
A startled Kouhei sat bolt up right, flinging off his covers in the process and sending Gatomon tumbling. /"What! What!"/
"Hmmrpflth!" Still dazed, Kouhei looked around his room and at his pile of sheets. Gatomon's head popped out from the pile, looking disgruntled.
/"Oh, I'm sorry Gatomon but you startled me. What's going on?"/
/"Oh nothing," she replied climbing out the cocoon and standing next to kouhei on his thin barren mattress. "Nothing at all since you were supposed to be at Irish's at ten and it's after 11:15."/
Kouhei stared at the little cat in silence, blankness washing over his face like he'd been freeze framed. It was not in his nature to be late. If he was going to be somewhere he would be there. In addition to this he could only imagine what the red head fighter would do to him when he ends up being late on his first day of training. Suddenly his face came alive again and he jumped to his feet. Gatomon watched with amusement as her partner frantically got dressed.
/"No time for breakfast this morning Kou," Gatomon said with a smile as she leapt on to the frazzled boy's shoulder. "We'd better run like the wind!"/
As Kouhei rushed out of the little house, remembering to bid obaasan and ojiisan a goodbye, he frowned at cat clinging to his shoulder. /"We'd? You mean I'd better run you lazy bum!"/
Panting, Kouhei came to the stop at the corner of Irish's loft. He reached into his pocket and was dismayed to see his cell phone display the time; 11: 32. Nervousness washed over him and he closed his eyes, concentrating on catching his breath.
Gatomon jumped down to the ground and looked at her partner, trying to read his face. /"Are you sure you still want to do this? We are late... and Irish never called you, maybe she wasn't even expecting to come, maybe she said it as a joke?"/
Kouhei paused at that suggestion. /"A joke...? No, I do not believe she meant what she said as a joke Gatomon. As for why she didn't call... well..." He paused and looked down at Gatomon's questioning face and smiled. "Well if it was a joke and she doesn't want me here, then she can turn me away. But like I said last night, I cannot pass up this offer."/
Taking a deep breath, Kouhei gathered his courage walked around to the door. The closer He got the more the faint sound of music drifted to his ear. Piano... and violin? Somehow it seems out of place for the energetic Irish. Gatomon gave him an encouraging smile as he pressed down on the buzzer. Abruptly, the music stopped and after a brief pause, the door slid open an Irish stood before him.
She cocked an eyebrow, "So you finally decided to show eh?"
Kouhei bowed, Gatomon followed suit, "I'm so sorry, forgive me for my lateness. There must have been something wrong with my alarm. If you will still allow it I'd like very much to train with you."
Irish repositioned herself, her back leaning up against the door frame, and crossed her arms across her chest. "You made me waste time waiting, so now you have to wait while I finish what I'm doing. Come in, sit down, and be quiet." Gatomon was silently amused at Irish's quiet womanly anger that lurked below the surface, mostly because Kouhei had no idea it was there.
Pushing off the door frame, Irish moved back into the room, allowing Kouhei and Gatomon to enter. The cat was not expecting to see the tall lanky digimon seated at the large piano. In his lap he held a violin. Irish pointed to the sofa, a silent command to sit, and walked up to her digimon, taking the violin he offered her.
Kouhei sat on the sofa's edge, hands in his lap, with the demeanor of a kid being scolded. Gatomon was fascinated at the odd music scene before her sat on the arm rest closest to the duo. The same thought crossed the boy and the cat's mind, "They made that music?" Maybe she was programed with some kind of "curiosity of a cat" program but Gatomon's attention was particularly involved in the scene unfolding.
Without missing a beat, Irish brought the bow up to the violin's string and effortlessly she and Devimon resumed their song. The beautiful sound of the ivory keys mixed with the strings created an enchanting melody that filled the room. Gatomon practically gawked as Dee's long thin fingers danced across the keys. She was amazed as his graceful, that's the only word she could use to describe it, fingers smoothly produced a haunting scene. At certain parts of the song the violin would rise to dominance before surrendering to the ivory keys of the piano.
Kouhei watched as Irish swayed with the movement of her bow, allowing herself to be completely absorbed in the melody. He looked over at his partner. Her emerald eyes were large and she was completely engrossed in the song. He had no idea she would be so entranced at a live performance, "Gatomon likes music this much?" he thought to himself.
With a flourish of fingers the piece came to an end and after a pause the sound of soft gloves coming together broke through. Gatomon applauded them. "That was beautiful!" She exclaimed. The lateness of their arrival and the possible consequences to her partner were forgotten in her excitement. "Wasn't that wonderful Kou?" she asked turning around to her still quiet partner.
"Ah, yes. It was wonderful, I never would have suspected..." Kouhei stumbled out. Irish handed her violin back to Devimon, whoes lip held a small curve of a smile, and walked over to the couch not responding. Kou stood up and stood awkward. His instincts were telling him to make amends.
"Um.." Kouhei started quietly, still afraid of an angry reprise. "I am sorry again, for being late... I was wondering, why is it that you didn't call me? I mean, it seems like it would be in your nature to call and see where I was."
"You mean I seem like the kind of person to verbally harass someone when they're late?"
"I um-"
Irish walked closer to the timid boy, "Or what? You think I'm some kind of control freak who demands obedience?"
"I-I..." Kouhei was flustered and at a loss, quickly he bowed low. "I'm so sorry! That's not what I meant at all, I'm sorry if I offend you!" He was startled when a hand gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. He looked up to see Irish smiling down at him. It was a gentle kind of smile that seemed out of place from the picture he had arranged in his head of the red headed fighter. He straightened up and the thought crossed his mind, that it seemed the kind of smile an older sister or mother would give, someone who is full of caring.
Irish's smile grew into an energetic grin. She looked down at Gatomon, "You have a good boy as a partner." Then she addressed Kouhei. Giving his cheek a pinch she said, "You're too cute when you get flustered, tongue tied and embarrassed. Ha! You need more time to get to know me."
Gatomon smiled back at the secret violinist, she couldn't help it she just liked the woman. She had a confidence and infectious personality which made is hard not to.
Stretching her arms high above her head Irish walked to the center of the room, back to the boy and his cat, and added, "to answer your question, I didn't call because I didn't want to pester you. If you wanted to reconsider coming I wasn't going to badger you about it and cause you embarrassment." She turned around to face him, "Trying some of that face saving stuff you asian people are so mad about. Although, judging from your cheeks I caused some embarrassment anyways."
Instinctively Kouhei reached up to his cheeks and directed his eyes to the floor. He wasn't embarrassed about being scolded...
Irish walked over and stood at attention beside Devimon. "Anyways, like I said yesterday, digimon are taller," She pointed up at Dee. "stronger," Dee flexed out his arm and Irish jumped on it like it was a tree limb, hanging off the ground. "and heavier-" Irish jumped down to the ground to whack her digimon in his midsection, "Then us humans."
Dee raised and eye brow and looked down at his partner. "Heavier? You mean fatter?"
Irish stared at her partner, "What are you an insecure sixteen year old girl?" With a bored look she waved off his comment. "Go eat a cupcake slim. Anyways, as I was saying they're bigger, tougher, and fatter than humans." She directed 'fatter' at Dee sticking out her tongue. "Therefore, you got to use that against them. Something you know about. Redirection of an opponent's force to topple them over. Dee come here."
Sighing, because he knew where this was going, Dee slowly glided over to his partner's side. "Make this quick so I can get back to my baby."
Gatomon bounded onto Kou's shoulder, her tail waving back and forth. She was still feeling wound up from the musical performance. "Your baby?"
"His piano," Irish said. "Where ever we go we have to take it. You know how expensive that gets?"
A slight smile came to Dee's face. "It's worth it. Besides I pay my own way."
"It is worth it, that really was amazing!" Gatomon said excitedly.
Dee smiled her way, "Just yesterday you didn't even want me to get near your partner and now you're showering me with praises. I think you're quite unable to hide that energetic nature of yours despite your company."
"Yes, our landlords call her jiyu na seishin. It basically means free spirit," Kouhei explained.
"Hey hey!" Irish interrupted. "We're here to kick ass, not discuss music. Let's get down to business. Using this," she said pointing crudely to Dee, "I'll show you how to apply takedown techniques to a digimon."
At the look Kouhei gave him the digimon responded by saying, "I am but a training dummy today it appears. Please pay attention I don't want to be laid out more than I have to be."
Irish laughed, "Don't mind him, I'll toss him as much as you need. He's not as fragile as he's leading on to be. Now you know about tossing and redirecting and whatever cause you're trained to do it. However, digimon, like this one here, are often feet taller than us. So using the exact techniques you've been taught won't work. You'll need modification on the spot. Also, helpful hint, Humanoid digimon share the same pressure points as people. For example..." Irish reached over to Dee's wrist pressing on his pressure point.
"Although, as you can see, because Dee is proportionally so much larger than a human, you'll have trouble using wrist pressure points for fighting. However," she said smiling up at her digimon, "You will see that it still does cause some discomfort, which allows you to launch an attack on a different point." Still holding his wrist Irish slid her hand up to apply pressure on his inner upper arm. "Then you can get in even closer for a nice hit." Holding on to his arm she pulled it away from his body and pretended to launch a kidney punch. "Or if you want to bring them down to your level for a shot at their face," Here she mimic a kick to the side of his knee, "Knees are always a good target."
"As you saw yesterday you could also go full throttle on a digimon, but I wouldn't suggest it unless you have a really good idea of what you're up against. Best to test things out and adjust your attack. I've found that with the bigg'ins it's best to toss them then punch them, you get a really good opening that way!" Irish swept Dee's leg out from under him, knocking the wind out of him and raised her fist above him. "Any shot you make, you gotta make count, remember that one for sure!"
"Do you still practice?" Irish questioned Kouhei as she watched her digimon pull his lankly legs to his torso to stand.
Kouhei looked down at the floor and paused before responding, "Unfortunately no. I can no longer afford it."
"We can barely afford the back room of a shop much less lessons," Gatomon added from her perch.
Before Dee could get to his feet Irish pushed down on the inside of his collar bone and tossed him onto his back again. "What do you do for a job then huh? I thought you were still in High school."
Kouhei cheeks became red. "I told you yesterday, I'm 19 years old," he mumbled. "I work at a grocery store. Customers send us their lists and pay online and I go out to deliver it."
Irish's face lit up. "You're a delivery boy, ha! How cute." She wanted to pry into where his family was, and why they weren't helping him if he could barely pay his rent, but she thought it would be better for him to bring it up so she held her tongue.
"Anyways!" Irish said stepping away from her digimon. "Back on topic, using your opponent's force against them. Aside from just tossing them, you can easily flip them to get a better shot at them. Watch, Dee come at me."
At Irish's command Dee pulled back his long arm, pulling his fingers together and stabbed forward toward her. Irish slid aside grabbing his upper arm. Not stopping at all she fluidly flung the spindly digimon. With his legs flying out from under him he flipped onto his back. Still holding onto his arm with her non-dominant hand she brought her arm back, pretending to attack.
"And smash, right into their face. It goes without saying the nose is always good, while they're in pain from that, you can strike somewhere else, and when you flip them it's easy enough to hit, well as long as they don't have a mask. If they do you can always go for their windpipe and use that opportunity instead."
Irish let go of her digimon's arm and he pulled himself up to a sitting position as she continued, "There are other things to consider besides simply size considerations. It goes without saying digimon have some crafty attacks up their sleeves and unfortunately we can't do much against them other then dodging. Which leads us to our next task!" This last statement she said with a smile playing on her lips.
Dee looked around at his girl's face and at Kouhei. "I don't know what she has planned but that smile is not exactly encouraging."
Irish's smile grew bigger, "Time to take a field trip, do you know where the nearest tennis court is?"
Closing Notes: I want to say I refer to Kouhei as boy because, if you haven't notice or I'm too poor a writer and I can't get it a crossed lol, he's very naïve and innocent despite his age of being an 'adult'
remember! : Obaasan = grandma/old lady Ojiisan = grandpa/old man.