"Family Dinner"
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Sitting on her bed, Davey ran a brush through the fur of her tail while her hair hung down around her shoulders after she had brushed it and the fur on her ears.
DemiVeemon was sitting on the window sill, trying to catch the small white butterfly that was hovering around his head.
"It's taunting me. Davey, look. This butterfly's taunting me!" DemiVeemon complained as he jumped after the insect.
Turning her attention over to her dragon, Davey gave him an amused grin as she watched him jumping up at the butterfly as it flew around the room.
"Yeah, I can see that." She said.
Using the elastic that was around her wrist, Davey tied up the back up her back into a ponytail as she continued to watch DemiVeemon chase after the tiny butterfly out of boredom.
"Come here you!" He cried.
The sound of a car engine then broke the peaceful silence of the secluded area and it made Davey's ears twitch along with DemiVeemon who stopped his persuit.
"Someone's here." He stated.
"Yeah, I here them. It must be Aunt Ami and Mai." Davey said as she stood up from the bed.
Walking over to the window, the tiger feral glanced down into the yard below to see a green Pontiac had parked beside her father's Toyota.
Out of the car stepped two women; both had black hair, tanned skin and brown eyes,
The tallest female had her hair grown down to her knees and it was done in wild curls while her eyes had silver rings in them.
As for the other woman, her hair was cut short and it reached her chin while her eyes had red rings around the pupils.
Both women wore hats to hide their animal ears while their tails were hidden under the coats they were wearing.
"Wow, you smell that? Mom must be cooking up a storm." The curly haired woman with a fedora on her head grinned.
Giggling at that, the short haired female with a blue cowgirl hat on her head slung her purse over her shoulder.
"Of course she is. It's a special occaision after all. I can't wait to finally see the girls!" She said.
The short haired woman almost skipped off into the house while the taller female followed her sister at a slower pace, but stopped when she sensed herself being watched.
Narrowing her eyes, the woman started sniffing the air and caught the scent of cherries and amber which had her turning her head over to the second floor of the house.
Her eyes met those of Davey's and it startled the girl as she reeled back in surprise that she had been caught.
Seeing who it was that was staring at her, the curly haired female's red painted lips pulled up into an amused smirk.
Giving the young feral a small wave, the woman seemed to strut off into the house to greet the rest of the family who was waiting inside.
"Wow. She seems kind-a scary." DemiVeemon said as he crawled up onto Davey's head.
"No kidding." The girl muttered.
It was obvious that that woman was the she-wolf Mai with the air of confidence and power she gave off with each step she took.
"Do you think we should head downstairs now for dinner?" DemiVeemon asked.
"I guess so. Let's go get Jun." Davey said as she pulled her window closed.
(Downstairs...)
Serenity had set the table while Rei and Aiya finished up cooking all of the food that would be served for dinner tonight.
Kei was wandering around the house and was standing in the living room where he found old pictures of himself and his sisters haning on the walls.
Walking over to the fire place, he picked up a framed picture from the mantle and smiled.
It was a family picture that was taken when Mai was ten, Ami was eight and when he and Rei were six.
The four children were all sitting on top of a hill and were smiling at the camera.
Sitting in the middle of the four siblings was Aiya who was wrapped up in the arms of her husband Kohaku Motomiya.
Kohaku was a mutant with the power of Empathy which allowed his feel the emotions of other people and to use a mutant's powers against them.
One day, when Kei and Rei were fourteen years old, their father learned he had cancer and he faught it off for years, but he finally died of the illness when the twins were sixteen.
It tore the family apart, but they soon moved on with their lives and learned that death was a normal part of their lives that they would have to deal with, especially the ferals.
Hearing the door open, Kei set the family picture down and walked over to the entrace to greet his older sisters.
"Guess who's home?" Mai's voice echoed through the house.
Chuckling at his oldest sister's attitude, Kei walked into the entrace of the house and smiled at Mai and Ami who were taking off their hats and tails.
Mai brushed her long curly hair off of her shoulder as her grey colored wolf ears twitched and her fluffy tail wagged behind it as it was freed from its hiding place under her jacket.
As for Ami, her small mink ears were covered in dark brown fur and were almost hidden by her black hair.
Her tail was very different compared to Aiya, Mai, Rei and Davey's tails.
Where their tails were long and thin, Ami's was a bit shorter than theirs were and had a greater width.
"How was the plane ride?" Kei asked.
Face contorting in a grimace, Mai growled in annoyance at the memory of the long plane ride.
Ami giggled at her sister's expression and walked over to her baby brother to give him a hug and kissed his cheek.
"It was fine." Ami told him.
"Oh, yes. I just love spending hours on a flying metal death trap with a bunch of strangers. Especially strangers with screaming children who kick your seats and people who are extremely rude!" Mai snarled.
Sighing at their older sister's annoyance, Kei and Ami left for the kitchen where Rei, Aiya and Serenity were waiting on them.
"Hey, there you are!" Rei greeted Ami as she pulled the mink feral into a hug.
When Mai walked into the kitchen, she went to hug her mother.
"Okaerinasai (Welcome home)." Aiya whispered to the she-wolf.
"Sore wa kateidearu koto ga yoi kotodesu (It's good to be home)." Mai grinned.
Pulling away from her mother, Mai then walked over to Rei and Serenity to greet them.
"Nice to see you two still look as cozy as ever." Mai teased.
"Hello, Mai. Where were you this time?" Serenity asked as she pulled the older female into a hug.
"Oh, I was in Greece when I was told the news." Mai said.
The teasing smile then left her face as she turned her conserned eyes onto her brother as she gave him a questioning look.
"How did she take it?" Mai asked.
A small, proud smile appeared on Kei's lips as he placed a hand on Mai's shoulder.
"She was in pain, but she tried to fight it off and was able to sleep off the transformation." He informed her.
Nodding at this, Mai turned her attention over to the hallway as she heard the footsteps of her nieces approaching the kitchen.
"She slept through the rest of it? Even growing out her tail?" Ami asked in shock.
"My girls are tough." Kei stated proudly.
Aiya chuckled at that as she caught the scent of her granddaughters and the Digimon growing nearer to the kitchen and smiled when the trio stood in the entrance.
Jun stared at the two other women in the room while Davey stood behind her older sister, peering over her shoulder while DemiVeemon was sitting on top of the girl's head.
"There you are. Davinia, Jun; come say hello to your aunts." Aiya gestured them forward.
Ami and Mai both turned to look at their nieces and they gave large grins at the sight of them.
"Kon'nichiwa! Sore wa anata no ryoho o miru koto ga totemo subarashidesu! (Hello! It's so great to see you both!)" Ami exclaimed.
"Kimi mo, obasan. (You too, Aunt Ami.)" Jun returned the smile to the mink feral.
"O ai dekite koeidesu. (It's nice to meet you.)" Davey greeted.
Going over to the two redheads, Ami pulled Jun into a hug and kissed her forehead and then repeated the actions with Davey.
Turning her attention to the Digimon sitting on her youngest niece's head, Ami smiled down at him and pet his head.
"Anata wa totemo kawaidesu! (You are so cute!)" She cooed.
"Soshite anata wa kireidesu! (And you're pretty!)" DemiVeemon chirped.
A bit surprised that DemiVeemon had spoken Japanese to her, Ami gave him a smile and patted his head once more she she then moved off to the side.
"Mai, come say hello to our nieces!" Ami called her over.
"Yeah, yeah. Calm down. You're acting like a kid in a candy store." Mai smirked.
Davey snorted at that in amusement as she turned her gaze over to the she-wolf who was walking over to them.
"Oh, please! Digimon in a candy store are a heck of a lot worst." She said.
This she knew from a horrible shopping trip.
One day when the DigiDestineds had gone off to the market to pick up some food for a picnic, they made the mistake of bringing their Digimon when they were in their In-Training forms.
Upamon, Poromon, Minomon and DemiVeemon had ran all around the store grabbing all kinds of candies and cookies as they did so.
That was an experience they never wanted to repeat ever again!
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" DemiVeemon protested.
Jun was the one to snort this time as she crossed her arms and gave the dragon an amused smirk.
"Yeah, right." The magenta haired teen scoffed.
Smirking at the trio in front of her, Mai couldn't help but compare them to the older Motomiya siblings when they were children.
Sending a glance over her shoulder towards Kei, the she-wolf saw him giving his daughters looks of fondness that their father had given them when he watched over them.
"Okay, kiddies, enough of that. There's a huge spread of food set out for us to eat and I'm starving. So, let's go eat!" Mai grinned as she showed off her fangs.
Turning their attention over to the curly haired feral, the trio gave grins of their own.
Everyone was then hearded into the dining room and began eating the large amount of food that had been prepared.
Jun noted that Davey, Aiya, Rei, Ami and Mai had all filled their plates up with each type of food that had been cooked and were digging into their meals with vigor.
It seemed that ferals tended to have large appetites and tended to eat until they were full.
Chatter was shared between the family as the three aunts started asking all kinds of questions about their nieces lives, wanting to learn everything they could about them.
Ami was pleased to hear that Jun was interested in math and science like she was while Mai was talking to Davey about teaching her how to hunt.
Hearing that made Kei warn his oldest sister to take it easy on the younger girl while Davey was excited to learn whatever she could from Mai.
An hour later, dinner was finished and Aiya told everyone to go into the living room to continue their bonding while she cleaned up.
Serenity, Davey, Jun and DemiVeemon had all offered to help the fox feral out, but Aiya told them she could handle it and that they should all relax with the rest of the family.
When they were all kicked out of the kitchen, the family sat down in the living room and were telling stories.
Aiya was smiling happily as she listened to the sounds of her children and grandchildren laughing from the other room.
It felt wonderful to have her family whole after twenty years and she was excited to have her granddaughters coming down to learn about their heritage.
Kei felt the same way as he sat on the couch beside Rei and Serenity who were giggling as they gossiped.
Davey was sitting on the floor with Mai as they talked about the sports they played in school (soccer and basketball) and also shared the times they got in trouble for getting into fights with other students.
Ami and Jun were sitting on a small couch as the mink feral told her niece about her times in Oxford university.
DemiVeemon was curled up in Serenity's lap and was taking a small nap as his back was being rubbed.
Moments like these made the Motomiya family wonder if DemiVeemon was part cat.
Leaning back in his seat, Kei then cleared his throat before he began talking.
"Ladies, can I have your attention?" He called making the chatter die down.
Everyone turned their heads over to the raven haired male and he knew his mother was listening in on them.
"Now, let me first just say that it's wonderful to have the entire family together." He began.
Mai smirked at that as she pulled Davey into a headlock and started to play with her tiger ears which made the girl whine.
"It is nice to finally meet these little brats of yours, baby brother." The she-wolf teased as the tigress struggled to get out of her hold.
"I really have enjoyed these last few hours. And we have years to make up for." Ami smiled gently as she ran her hand through Jun's silky hair.
"And we have a lot to teach them." Rei stated with a confident grin.
Each feral sister was eager to teach their nieces whatever they could whether it was about fashion, boys, fighting, hunting or even school work.
They would be sharing their individual knowledge with the pretty redheads to help them grow into powerful and confident women.
"Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to talk about." Kei said.
Managing to lift one of Mai's arms up and rolling out of her grip, Davey turned her attention over to her father to see the serious look on his face as he stared down at her which was making her nervous.
"That look doesn't make me feel good. What's up, Dad?" Davey asked as she pushed herself up onto her knees.
"Davinia, you remeber how I told you about there being hundreds of other mutants out there? Well, I know this because my sisters and I used to go to a boarding school with them." Kei revealed.
Hearing this made DemiVeemon, Davey and Jun whip their heads over to the raven haired man in surprise while the feral sisters all went quiet.
"There's a boarding school filled with mutants?" Jun asked.
"I wouldn't say 'filled'." Kei shook his head.
"Yeah, the four of us and Storm were the only ones who were being taught at that place." Mai said.
"You went to a mutant school too, Kei?" DemiVeemon asked.
"Of course he did!" Rei exclaimed like it was obvious.
"There was no way we would ever leave him behind. Not even to go to a boarding school in a different country." Ami stated.
Frowning at this information, Davey looked over at her father while her aunts seemed to be remembering the events that had happened in the past at this school.
"Why are we talking about this school?" She asked.
"Because I think it would be best if you attended." Kei informed.
This news made the fur on Davey's ears and tail bristle as her nose scrunched up in anger.
"You wanna send me away?" She demanded.
"No, Davinia. What I want is to show you around the school. The Xavier Institute was created as a safe haven for mutants and a place to learn how to control your powers." Kei informed.
Standing up from his seat, Kei walked over to his youngest daughter who looked to be highly frustrated by all the new information that was being unloaded on her.
She looked tense and the way her tail was lashing around behind her was a warning to everyone that she was not in a mood to be messed with.
"I talked to an old friend of mine named Ororo Munroe. She was a student at the school when your aunts and I were kids." Kei informed.
Slowly raising a hand, Kei watched to see how his daughter would react.
Growing up with ferals, he had learned that they tended to behave like animals and that when they were angered, he had to be gentle with them to keep them calm.
When a male feral had gotten too close to Mai when she was angered, she had grown out her claws to swipe him across the face.
It was a good thing he had a great healing factor or else he would have four ugly scars on his face.
"You don't have to attend the school. All that I'm asking is that you go check it out and meet the other students. If you don't like it, then you don't have to enroll. You can keep going to school with your friends in Odaiba." Kei offered.
Waiting patiently, Kei watched his daughter and saw her tail was now flicking around in a more calm fashion, but she still had an annoyed expression adorning her face.
Clencing her hands into fists, Davey tried to calm herself down and breathed in through her nose.
Everything that had been happening to her lately was overwhelming her and it was making her feel horribly stressed out.
She couldn't deal with this on her own.
"I'm going to my room." She said as she stood up.
Everyone remained silent as the tigress left the room and DemiVeemon jumped off of Serenity's lap as he chased after his partner.
"Davey, wait for me!" The blue dragon cried as he followed her.
Watching the upset girl leaving the room, everyone turned their attention over to Kei as Aiya stepped out of the kitchen.
"Well, that was intersting. Maybe you should have waited a little longer before telling her about Charles and his school." Aiya said.
Standing up, Kei groaned in despair since he knew how difficult this was going to be.
"I know, Mom. This is all my fault. I should have been honest with the girls about their heritage from the start. Maybe if they had been aware of their mutantions from the beginning, then this whole mess could have been avoided." The raventte said.
He felt horrible for the stress all of this information was putting on his 12 year old daughter and wished he could have handled this situation a different way.
Aiya had told him and his sisters when they were all children that there was a large possibility that they had been born with the x gene and would go through a mutation.
It frightened and confused, but at least they were prepared for it.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Kei. You know how Davinia is. She needs time to calm down and think things through." Serenity said as she stood up and walked over to her husband.
She pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek, hoping to provide some form of comfort.
"I'm not gonna lie, Dad, I'm pretty mad at you." Jun spoke up.
"Jun!" Ami scolded.
The 18 year old shrugged at that and turned her gaze onto her father, her face set into a deadly serious expression that impressed Mai.
If she were born a feral, then she would have been a vicious one.
"It's true. Davey has been acting way too nice about this. It's really not like her. Usually, she would be freaking out about this stuff. I think the only reason she's been so calm is because she has DemiVeemon and the rest of the DigiDestineds to support her." Jun said.
Keeping silent at that, Kei and Serenity glanced over to where the staircase was and hoped that Davey would calm down on her own and would consider what her father had said about checking out the school.
Unknown to the worried parents, Davey had climbed out the window of her room and pulled herself up onto the roof where she could sit and try to think in peace.
DemiVeemon followed after her and sat beside her.
"Davey, are you going to be okay?" He asked her.
"I-I don't know. This is way too much for me to deal with. First I transform into some freak and now my dad wants to to move to a boarding school far away from my family? I don't know how to deal with this!" Davey cried.
Whining in despair, DemiVeemon walked over to his upset partner and he was able to see her eyes were glowing blue in the darkness of the night.
She may be the Keeper of Courage, but she was still able to feel fear every once in a while just like everyone else.
"Please don't cry, Davey. I really don't like seeing you so upset." The baby dragon said.
"I can't help it! Vee, what's happening to me is scary and frustrating! I don't know how to deal with all of this. This is actually freaking me out more than fighting the Digimon Emperor and MaloMyotismon." She exclaimed as she rubbed at her eyes.
"Why is this scarying you even more than that?" DemiVeemon asked her in confusion.
"Because, this isn't something that I can fight!" Davey yelled making DemiVeemon jump.
Glaring down at her hands, Davey took notice that her nails had turned into claws in her anger and she was breathing shakily from the emotions that were crashing down on her.
"I can't stop this from happening to me. I thought maybe this whole feral thing could be cool, but then when Dad talked about me moving away to a school for others like me... It just made he realize something." She said.
"Realize what?" DemiVeemon asked.
"That I can't go back to living my normal life. Look at me! I'm not human anymore. I can't go to school with humans because they'll hate me just because I'm different! And, to make even worst, I have no idea what is happening to my body! That is what scares me." The tigress cries.
Eyes filling with tears at the confession of his partner's fears as she begins to cry, DemiVeemon walks over to her and jumps onto her shoulder.
He rubs his head against her cheek as he tries to comfort her the best way he could.
"It's normal to feel that way." A familar voice speaks up.
Freezing up, the duo of Courage and Friendship turn around to see Aiya was standing on the roof behind them.
She had changed out of her dress and was now wearing a pair of jeans and a black tank top.
The orange rings in her eyes were glowing in the dark as she kept her gaze onto her upset granddaughter.
"What are you doing up here?" Davey asked as she started wiping at her tears t dry them.
Aiya walked over to where her granndaughter was seated and she sat down beside the girl.
"I came to check up on you. Everyone was worried. Kei shouldn't have dumped this information on you like that. I know what this is a scary time in your life and you're just a child. Most people are lucky and develop their x gene when they're in their teenage years." The fox feral said.
She reached out and started to pet Davey's ears which helped her relax.
She really was just like a cat.
"What was it like for you...when you became a mutant?" Davey asked her grandmother.
This question made Aiya frown as the memories of her past came rushing back.
"It was horrible. When I grew out my ears and tail, my parents paniked. They thought I was a demon and chased me out of the house and into the woods. The last thing I ever heard them say was them calling me a kitsune and for me to never return or else they would kill me." She revealed.
Gasping in horror at the information, Davey and DemiVeemon stared at Aiya to see she was glaring out into the distance as she thought back to the day.
She was a scared child who wanted to be comforted by her parents, but they had rejected her.
When she tried to run to her mother, the woman had slapped her across the face and yelled 'Don't touch me demon!' to her.
"How could they do that to you? They're your parents!" DemiVeemon exclaimed.
"Not everyone's families will accept them for being born different. Also, it was a different time back then. My mutation frightened my parents and they rejected me because of it. I'm not the first person this has happened to and I fear there will be even more children who will be rejected by their families because of something they can't control." Aiya explained.
Giving her stunned granddaughter a tender smile, Aiya reached out and ran her fingers through the girl's bangs.
"You were lucky to be born into an understanding family who will love you no matter what." She said.
"I-I can't believe that some parents would actually do that to their kids. That's just...sick! How can they justify what they did?" Davey demanded.
"They're all terrible people and should be ashamed of themselves!" DemiVeemon added.
The duo were quite enraged by this new information they were given and it made Aiya smile sadly at them since she knew that no one could change the way people feel or react when situations like this arise.
"This is why Charles started his school. It's a safe place for people like us. All Charles has ever wanted since he first found out about his mutation was to help people." Aiya said.
Davey grew silent at this as she listened to what her grandmother was saying, but she was no longer frustrated about what was happening to her.
She felt like she didn't have a right to complain when others had suffered because of their mutations.
"Davinia," Aiya called her name.
This made the girl snap her full attention onto her grandmother who was staring into her eyes with a pleading expression.
"I know you're upset by this, but could you at least go explore the school and meet the people there? Give them a chance. Please." Aiya requested.
Biting her lip in thought, Davey thought over the possibilities of going to the Xavier Institute to meet Charles and other children like her.
To be honest, she was curious to meet them.
This was a chance for her to learn more about mutants and to be around kids who were just like her and understood what she was going through.
"Fine, I'll go check the place out. But I'm not promising I'm gonna like the place." Davey said.
Laughing at Davey's stubborn attitude, Aiya pulled the girl into a hug which made her yelp in surprise while DemiVeemon giggled as he watched the fox feral place a kiss onto the tigress' temple.
To be continued...