July 2004 - The Egg Problem

Hey! Inoue Miyako here!

Did you know I've started to get into lavender-scented things? They're especially good in the bath. Just a little bit, not too much to the point where it gets overwhelming, but a little amount of scent – ah, it's heavenly!

I recommend you try it too. And if you like it, you should tell everyone else about it!

Tell me when you have, okay, okay?

Miyako cheerily hummed as she turned on the bath water. It seemed like there was little capable of lowering her spirits at this point, as her disposition seemed to be at maximum that day.

What did catch her off guard, however, was a sudden pounding on the door. Rather irritated, Miyako yelled "I'm busy!" at it.

The pounding continued, sounding rather frantic.

Sighing in exasperation, Miyako quickly put on the rest of her clothes on and yanked open the door with the demeanor of a cat who'd had its food suddenly and violently pulled from it.

"Really, what do you need so badly?"

Behind the door happened to be Miyako's older brother, Mantarou, and under normal circumstances Miyako would have snapped at him for interrupting her, that he didn't have to pound so hard, that it had better be something good, blah blah blah – at the very least, she would have sighed deeply and given him "what is it now?"

This was not a normal circumstance.

Mantarou, looking half-bemused and half-panicked, was holding a large egg in his hands.

"So it finally happened…"

Miyako and Mantarou stared at the egg that they'd placed in the middle of the table, as if their piercing stares would somehow cause it to spontaneously hatch. The egg, naturally, did nothing.

"But man, this isn't even fair. Why didn't I get it pre-hatched like the other people in this family did?"

"At least you didn't end up getting chased by some wild Digimon like Chi-neechan and Momo-neechan did. That was a nightmare…" Miyako looked sideways at Hawkmon, who also seemed to be inspecting the egg. "Know anything about the egg, Hawkmon?"

"Unfortunately, no. There doesn't seem to be anything about it that I can recognize."

"That's a shame…" Mantarou laid his head on the table lazily. "But you know…there's you, and Chizuru, and Momoe…and now me. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do after this…"

"All we can do is wait and see what it hatches into," said Hawkmon.

"Miyako," said Mantarou, "you're the one who's the veteran here, right?"

"I guess I wouldn't really call myself a veteran. I'm still learning, you know." Miyako casually poked the egg, even though it still did nothing.

"But you know more than the rest of us do. Because this whole idea of a Digimon…something's not going to come out of that egg, and I don't really know what I'm going to do once it does. Like…how do you take care of Digimon and all that…"

Miyako pouted and sighed. She wished Hikari were around with her informational video, but there wasn't much she could do.

"Well, I don't think 'taking care' of your Digimon would really be the best way to describe it, you know? I mean, I think Hawkmon here is pretty good at handling himself. Except when it comes to food, that is. He's a living black hole of expensive Japanese food."

"Miyako-san…"

"But anyway, I don't think taking care of a Digimon partner should be a problem. I think what matters more should be your relationship with it."

"Hmm…" Mantarou sighed and looked at Hawkmon. "So then, Hawkmon…what do you think would be your relationship with Miyako?"

Hawkmon thought about it for a minute. Miyako was aware he could say anything he liked, and she trusted him to tell the truth.

"Sometimes there are times when I'm worried if Miyako-san really knows what she's doing, and I advise her to do something different. And sometimes she listens to me, and sometimes she doesn't. But I know I understand Miyako-san's feelings with everything she does, so I can tell she does everything with good intentions. That's what I love most about her, so…in the end, I think I can say I understand her very deeply."

"You talk so well, Hawkmon…" said Miyako. "So, I guess…well, I guess you can say he takes care of me more than I take care of him. He does keep me in check all the time, so I'm grateful for that."

"So that's how it is, then…"

"You can ask Chi-neesan and Momo-neesan about it later, I'm sure they have other things to say," said Miyako.

Mantarou looked back at the egg. It still did nothing – it was hard to believe that this indeed contained a Digimon and wasn't some kind of elaborate prop with how still it is. Still, an egg was an egg – there wasn't much one could expect an egg to do, for now.

"So I just wait for it to hatch and…hope for the best? I'm not sure if I'm not ready for this kind of commitment…"

"It's not something you should worry too much about. At least not until you end up having to save the world or something…"

"Eh, it can't be that hard. I mean, you pulled it off, so it can't be that bad for me."

"…hey!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking. It's not fair if my little sister gets to be the one experienced in all this and I don't get to tease her." He picked up the egg and headed towards his room. "I wonder if this egg will hatch faster if I sit on it…"

"Nii-san!"

Mantarou pulled a teasing gesture and went back into his room. Miyako sighed.

"I hope he doesn't end up having to save the world after all…"

"He probably will get called to do at least something," said Hawkmon.

"Yeah. Well, I guess that's all up to him." Miyako sighed. "I really need a nice, warm bath…"