Disclaimer: I don't own any Digimon – just the children of the Tamers
A/N 1: A little reminder. This story takes place well after the D-reaper and the card game still exists- everyone still remembers the incident with the D-reaper, except after all leads went dead, the investigations ceased to occur. AND Marié is Rika's daughter; Erika and Kenji are Jeri's twins; and Noa is Ryo's son.
A/N 2: Thank you for choosing to read this story, but what do you think of it? (If you've left a review, thank you!)
And I'm giving a reader the opportunity to create an additional child as a sibling for any of the following characters – Takato, Henry, Kenta, Kazu and Ryo. (They won't be a Digidestined child, they'll just be a minor character, but if you're interested, then PM me)
This is incredibly important to note, the card game played in this chapter is simply taken from the Digimon Official Game Guide, so apologies if it sounds so farfetched. To be honest, I don't think that I will be able to use it, it doesn't make sense for someone who has never played the game – not that I have now that I think about it!
Chapter 03
Noa Akiyama was led to a table right in the middle of the hall – right under the watchful gaze of the spectating girls who were a little younger than he was, but still made sure to watch him compete. It was a little nerve-racking at his first tournament, but by now, he had gotten used to it. To a certain extent, he had learnt how to play up to the crowd on occasions. It was weird having to wait for his opponent to actually show up, because normally his opponents were always on time. Obviously this one was not going to be on time.
"Who is this guy?" he asked, looking over to the referee.
The referee was a girl a few years older than him with an expression on her face that said she clearly didn't want to be there.
"I don't know, some guy named… Kenji Tanaka – oh, he's got a sister that entered at last minute called Erika." She heaved a sigh before screwing up the piece of paper with the preliminary set up on and stuffing it right in the back pocket of her ripped and tattered excuse for jeans.
"Urgh," she groaned.
"You know, no one will really know if you just go now," Noa suggested, feeling a little irritated by her obnoxious behaviour. "I'm going to give him another five minutes or so. Then I'll find a judge."
"Whatever," she sighed, rolling her eyes and getting up to stroll over towards the door.
A little girl who could only have been just about thirteen years old was trying to push her way towards the table at which Noa was sat at. She had something to tell him and it was vitally important that she told him as soon as she could, but the other adoring fans of Noa's weren't going to let a weedy little girl who looked far too younger to even be there, or even anywhere near his table. The other girls elbowed her out of the way and forced her to the back of the group.
"Are you ready to pummel this Kenji boy, Noa?" a tall girl with thin brown hair styled in a single long plait and round glasses asked, taking the referee's seat beside the table whilst the other competitors took their seats.
Noa politely smiled. "Of course, there's no doubt about it. I'll probably go on to win this thing." Even though the other competitors thought this was cocky, they knew he was right – it was Noa Akiyama.
"Noa – Noa Akiyama!" he heard a tiny voice call out to him. Scanning the crowd, he tried to find who the voice belonged to.
Again, it called out to him over the ruckus of the other competitors and spectators. He stood up, looking around the hall until he saw a hand floating in the air above the small crowd around his table. Before he could pursue the hand and the voice calling out to him, his competitor approached.
He was a boy that was a little shorter and looked a lot younger than him burst through the crowd, detracting Noa's attention from the hand in the air.
"Sorry I'm late Noa. I'm Kenji… Listen, this is an honour to play against you. Until yesterday, my sister didn't even know who you were, and now she does because of me." Noa listened to the boy ramble on about his admiration for him. "You're one of the best players around. Could I- Would it be weird if I asked to shake your hand?" Kenji held his hand out to Noa in compete admiration. "It's weird I know, but you're like my idol!"
"Cool," Noa replied, shaking his opponent's hand. "Let's make it a good game." Letting go of Kenji's hand, Noa sat down in his seat, still hearing a girl calling his name. It was only now that Noa was beginning to think that it was all in his head, and that the hand was just a slightly desperate fan trying to get some attention from him.
The two boys placed their rookie card down on the digivolve zone of the table. Noa reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin seeing as their referee had gone on a walkabout.
"You call it…" he said, flicking his thumb and tossing the coin in the air.
Everyone watched in suspense and waited for Kenji to call it.
"Heads."
The coin landed on Noa's hand, when he uncovered it, he smiled. "Tails it is…"
Flipping the coin to the girl sitting in the referee's chair, Noa prepared himself to turn over the card he had placed down on the field. There was a sweeping sound as he picked it up and moved it over to the duel zone.
"I have Agumon, and with this Digivice card, he will digivolve to… Togemon as I discard two cards to the offline pile."
Everyone watching thought the match would last longer than it did, but like everyone predicted, Noa came out on top and seized the victory.
"That was a good match, Kenji." Noa held his hand out to Kenji, who didn't need to be asked twice to shake his hand. "Even though I'm in the semi-finals, I'd love to hang out with you. It would be great if you could explain that de-digivolving tactic that you used with Gotsumon because I was amazed by it- I've never known anyone use it before. So what do you say?"
Kenji was a little flustered. "Sure! Do you mind if my sister tags along? She's somewhere around here, and she's competing too. I wouldn't want her to get her knickers in a twist not knowing where I am…"
"Sure, that sounds cool – let's go find your sister."
Kenji led Noa through the crowd towards the table he had seen Erika sitting at. She was sat there with her arms folded, not even her twin brother could tell if she was angry at something, or just bored.
"Erika – how'd it go?" Kenji asked.
"Fine…" she replied bluntly.
"Don't be so cold, Erika. This is Noa Akiyama, the guy who just beat me in the prelim round of the tournament, and he literally no joke, just asked me to show him a trick I used in the match too. How cool is that?" the twin exclaimed.
"Cool…" Erika murmured, but when she looked up, her cheeks flushed with colour. "Oh- hi Noa. I knew you were going to beat Kenji, he's not that good at the game to be honest. He's… Not very tactical, and a lot of other stuff too." The girl was staring at Noa with wide eyes and a tiny smile that said she liked him, before suspiciously narrowing her eyes a little.
"Erika – that's a nice name," Noa replied politely before turning towards her twin. "So about that tactic of yours, Kenji?"
Feeling that there was something unusual about Noa's interest in her brother's strategy, Erika suddenly leapt up from her chair. "Kenji – I never said. I got a text from Mum, she wants you to call her and let her know you're okay… You… You didn't tell her-"
"Erika!" Kenji snapped, glancing awkwardly at Noa as if to say what she was doing was so uncool before storming out of the hall.
Her gaze moved to Noa. "What are you planning?" Erika asked him. "Is that how you get so good – do you just scope out tactics that work well and hog them for yourself?"
Noa raised an eyebrow. "Come on Erika. That's not what I'm doing at all. What Kenji tried was really good, and I think I have the knowledge that he needs to make it an even better tactic."
She wasn't convinced, and it was apparent.
"What's your problem? You're so serious, it's unreal…" Noa laughed softly, trying to diffuse the situation. "You would get on really well with one of my mates. He's serious, you're serious, I think you've got a lot in common." He playfully winked at her, which only repulsed her as he watched her screw up her face. "Woah, you're uptight…"
"I am not uptight!" Erika squealed. "When I turn up to some Digimon tournament, I don't expect to be set up with some friend of yours. That's totally out of order."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you there." Noa paused which left an awkwardly long silence. "So, this is going to sound really stalkerish, but you don't happen to be related to Jeri Katou, do you?"
Erika flinched, blinking rapidly, unable to see how he might know her mum's name. "She's my mum. Why? How do you know her name?"
Noa stepped back, bumping into a table which clattered back into another. "I – I have to go right now…" He turned and ran. Something important was on his mind.
With his feet pounding the stairs outside, he was about to run straight into the road when a girl grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the way of a speeding car.
"Sookie!" Noa said in an alarmed tone as he looked at the young girl. "What are you doing here? Do your parents know you're here?"
"No," the girl replied shyly. "They don't know I'm here. But I had to come and find you because the Digimon are in danger and calling out to us. A strange darkness is sweeping across the Digital World. There is an illness that needs to be cured, Noa. We need to do something as soon as possible."
"Sookie." Noa put his hands on either of her shoulders. "You have to go home. The Digital World does not exist anymore, there's no way that it can because there has not been a Digital Portal for decades now- that's what my dad always tells me. Ryudamon and Tokomon X are the last of their kind."
"Yeah Noa, but my mum knows that the portal will appear again, we just need to find where. She thinks that the new generation of Tamers should be found and join together." Sookie smiled, looking up at Noa.
"Sookie – you are a special little girl, do you know that?" Noa smiled gently. "If what you are saying is true, then I will tell you something to keep you hopeful… I believe that I may have just met another of my dad's friend's children. Her name is Erika, and wow, she's pretty, but serious."
"Do you love her?" Sookie asked innocently. Being only thirteen, Sookie was naïve and incredibly curious about the world around her.
Noa laughed, wiping his eyes. "Oh god- no! Sookie, I only just met her."
"My mum fell in love with my dad the moment she saw him across the room," Sookie replied, smiling. "But do you think she's a Tamer, like me and you?"
Taking his chin in his thumb and forefinger, Noa thought about it. There was a chance that she could be a Tamer, but he wasn't sure.
He was the son of Ryo Akiyama, who had told him that he was a Tamer for a Digimon called Monodramon.
She was the daughter of Alice McCoy – the Tamer who gave the power of mega-digivolution in the real world with the help of Dobermon.
Erika's the daughter of Jeri Katou, a Tamer who lost her partner Leomon to Beezlemon's greed, so it was possible for her to be a Tamer, though the fact that she had a brother meant that he could be the Tamer, or maybe even both of them.
"What are you thinking about, Noa?" Sookie asked, looking up at the older and taller boy as if he were her brother. "No-a?"
"She probably is, but there is no way of knowing to be honest. Only time will tell. Do you know where your Digimon partner is now? I've got an idea."
"Yeah, Tokomon X is in my bag." Sookie grinned and opened the flap of her bag to show him the sleeping Digimon. "He's been sleeping a lot lately, I don't think he's strong enough to survive in the human world… But- but what about Ryudamon?"
"Ryudamon's always close by me, you should know that…" Noa jokingly ruffled the younger girl's hair. "I've got a plan…" he whispered to her and told her of the plan he had to find out whether Kenji and Erika were part of the new generation of Tamers.
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Ooooo, so there's another Tamer in the scene, and her name is Sookie McCoy-Ikeda. Will her and Noa be able to find any other Tamers?