Takato stole occasional glances at Jenrya's expression, who was walking slightly in front of him in Shinjuku Central Park, while the latter concealed beneath his placid façade. Even though Takato wanted to speak up, he was wary of interrupting his friend who seemed pensive. It was a gray afternoon, and although it was a school day, the two boys were not in school. Silence ensued until the clock struck four and the bells rang. School was out. Jenrya stopped in his tracks and finally noticed Takato.
"What is it?" He asked in a tired voice.
"I- I want to check Guilmon's hideout again." Takato blushed, embarrassed at his irrational request.
"But Takato, we've been there. We tore the place apart. There's no gate." Jenrya explained.
"I know. But…" Takato trailed off and stared at the ground. The Chinese boy sighed and smiled kindly.
"Look, if it's important to you, we'll do it."
"Thanks, Jen! You're the best!" Takato said gratefully, suddenly more animated.
"This place looks really sad." Patamon chirped as he flew alongside his new partner.
"I know. And it doesn't help we're stuck with such a downer bunch too. Why isn't anybody talking?" Izumi asked out loud so the whole group could hear. Silence.
"Just like I thought."
"What do you want to talk about, Izumi?" Kouichi turned and smiled at her.
"I don't know… Anything to fill this stupid… silence. This is depressing and unnerving! I mean look at this place! It's just desert! Can't we lighten the mood a little?"
"There's nothing wrong with the mood." Deadpanned Kouji, who was walking behind Ruki. Ruki said nothing at all.
"Hey hey, cheer up, Izumi! You have me now!" Patamon sounded happy as ever. "And we're going to make a great team!"
Izumi blushed. It was hard to describe what his words meant to her. Her whole life had been on the go. Tokyo, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome, and finally back to Tokyo. She made many "best friends", but one by one she lost them all. The distance just made it too hard. In Germany, Annette, Julia and Jürgen were her "crew". They were like magnets, four parts of a greater whole. She could not remember her life in Frankfurt without them. Julia was the smart one and Jürgen was always up to no good, so together their trouble-making prowess was formidable. Izumi, the imaginative and optimistic member, always reveled in what they did, even though they would later get into trouble. It was the good kind of trouble though, since nothing bonded them so much. Annette was out on every plan of theirs. She was sensible and reserved, occasionally breaking into sarcasm at her friends' childish idiocy.
After Izumi left for Milan, she lost all of them at once. She told herself she wouldn't let them go, and they told her they'd never let her go, but the three of them remained close and Izumi, though she tried her best, drifted apart. When she wrote to them, she would often speak of all the new friends she was making. She gushed about people like Marco and Francesca and Giulietta. Later, she realized she was trying to make them jealous. She was trying to matter to them; she wanted them to care that she's connecting with new people and leading a fruitful new life. Their response? In a nutshell: "oh, that's really cool." "Cool". But then, what else could they have said? Be reasonable here! Well, they could have asked about her new friends! But they didn't. What they said was: "oh, that's really cool." That's the definition of not giving a damn.
Finally, when they sent her a shot of the three of them taking what seemed for the world to be a blissful vacation in Naples, she realized three things: 1. Her new life didn't really interest them 2. She had become peripheral in this "group", if she's even still in it and 3. It's over. It's all over. It felt like a punch to the gut. Izumi gave the photo to her mother and told her to get rid of it. Of course, history repeated with her Italian friends. It'd been a year since she'd last heard from them; each unanswered letter less impactful than the last until she'd learned to numb herself to this mute rejection. She reached out to Patamon and hugged him tightly. Maybe she'd found a friend for life at last.
"Makino-san, Plotmon looks tired. We should make camp somewhere around here. It's getting dark." Kouji stated matter-of-factly, picking up the drooping Plotmon from the ground, who snuggled against his chest happily.
"Alright." Ruki replied and immediately dropped her bags a few feet away from the other teenagers. She laid her out her coat and used her bag as a pillow. Even though they weren't friendly with each other, the tension from earlier had vanished and the two seemed to understand each other.
"Hey, Ruki-chan, any idea where we're going?" Izumi asked after she sat down.
"First of all, I told you not to call me 'Ruki-chan'. It's degrading." Ruki snapped.
"Oh? Au contraire, I think it's funny!" Izumi giggled. "Your reaction alone is a million dollars!" Ruki opened her mouth to argue, but Kouji got there before her.
"If you want to get anything out of her, you should address her the way she wants." Kouji pointed out.
"Wow both of them are speaking." Patamon whispered audibly for everyone to hear. Izumi laughed while Kouichi smiled.
"They're like doom." Izumi started.
"And gloom." Patamon finished.
"Storm."
"And Stress."
"Sturm und Drang?" Kouichi supplied mischievously. "Very apt, guys. Good job."
"Wow. German. Sehr gut." Izumi said. "Very classy."
"I learned that in Art History." Kouichi grinned- it was the first time he seemed so childlike to Izumi.
Everyone but "Storm and Stress" laughed in merriment, apparently finding it very funny.
"If you still care, we're going where I say we're going." Ruki seethed.
"And that's where, exactly?"
"Wherever this leads." She held out her D-Ark and on the screen was a compass.
"Why?"
"Not your business."
Izumi had had enough.
"Oh really? You're going to pull that one on me? Ever since we met you you've been gloomy and negative and anti-social. We tried hard to include you and this is all we get? What, you don't think we have the right to know where you're leading us and why? You know there's something bigger going on and you've kept quiet about it for this long. Well, this can't go on!" Izumi was about to continue her tirade but Ruki cut in.
"Oh, because you have such important places to be and better things to do. You couldn't even defend yourself against a Flymon; it boggles the mind which world you think you're going to save because right now you're no good to anyone." With that, Ruki turned away to observe the glowing cyan orb that is the Material World.
Izumi inhaled sharply. You're no good to anyone. Marco, Annette and Giulietta flashed through her memories. Their indifference. You're no good to anyone. All those unanswered letters. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. Ruki was staring at the sky, totally oblivious. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. Kouji lay on the ground, trying to ignore them, Plotmon sleeping blissfully in his arms. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. The phrase hammered away in her head. With each strike, more tears gushed from her eyes. She lost track of time, swallowed in her grief.
Kouji. Kouichi. Takuya. Tomoki. Junpei. In a few months she's going to leave them too. You're no good to anyone. And they're going to forget her, make no mistakes, because- you're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. Every time she left a place behind she felt her world crashed and burned around her. Everything she knew and could count on- gone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. And she was going to be alone in the world. Forever. Stop. Please stop. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to anyone. You're no good to-
"Izumi, please don't cry. You're being so gloomy. You're going to make me cry too!" Patamon perched on her shoulders, his large doe-like eyes quivering. Izumi buried her face in her lap, and felt warm arms close around her. She looked up to see Kouichi regarding her with concern.
"Do you want to talk about it? Should I talk to her?"
"N-no. It's not really about what she said… It just hit a nerve." Izumi sniffed and hiccuped, trying to smile.
"I'll talk to her." He tried to stand up.
"No! Please don't." Her green eyes pleaded with Kouichi. "She'll hate me even more."
"If you have a problem, then spit it out."
Apparently Ruki had overheard and was staring intently at them. Kouichi had had enough.
"Because everything that comes out of your mouth has to be a challenge!"
"Don't mind me. It's not about you." Izumi addressed Ruki directly. The latter raised her eyebrows in skepticism.
"Is it?"
"It's a long story…"
"Well…" Sigh. Ruki's expression softened. "I'm sorry. I was too harsh. Just so you know, I don't hate you. I never have. It's just that... A lot has happened. If you have a problem with me, tell me about it. I don't bite... hard*." Izumi broke into half-sobs, half-giggles. Kouichi stared at Ruki as though she'd grown another head, and even Kouji snickered. Ruki had to smile as well.
"I mean it! And about why we have to follow my D-Ark… It's a long story." Izumi smiled slightly.
"Don't worry about it. I picked a fight." "Let's just forget it ever happened, okay? You can tell me your story when you're ready." Ruki nodded. Kouichi turned away, satisfied.
It was five in the afternoon and their hands were caked with mud digging through Guilmon's tunnel. Both boys were panting and filthy and crestfallen.
"Takato." Jenrya addressed the younger boy.
"Yes, Jen?"
"It's getting late; I think we should call it a day."
"But Jen! We aren't even done with Central Park! And this…"
"Takato, this is futile. We've been searching the park since this morning and we haven't found anything. Besides, we don't know what we're looking for. We don't know if there are gates in this park, or even how many there are! What if there's only one gate and we've been looking in the wrong place this whole time? I know Shinjuku Park was the only lead we have, but it looks like a dead end and there's isn't really a compelling reason for a gate to appear here. We need to think this through. "
Takato sighed, defeated.
"So what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know. Search hidden, out of the way places. That's where the gates should be, or somebody would have noticed."
"But that can be anywhere in the city!" Takato exclaimed, despair in his voice.
"I know, I know…" Jenrya rubbed his temple, closed his eyes and leaned back against the tunnel wall.
"I'm sorry, Jen. I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just that…"
"I understand. It's Guilmon, isn't it?"
Takato nodded wistfully.
"You two were so in sync. Terriermon and I were close, but that was nothing compared to what you and Guilmon had. I'm not mad. I'm not mad at all. It's must be magical in a way I can't understand."
Takato blushed and his eyes shone with tears.
"Thanks, Jenrya. It means a lot to me." He spontaneously gave his friend a tight hug, taking the other boy by surprise. Breaking the embrace, Jenrya climbed out of the tunnel.
"Here, take my hand, though it's a bit dirty." Jenrya held out his hand to Takato.
"Hehe, not any dirtier than mine!" Takato said cheekily, and Jenrya pulled him out.
Takato had reluctantly agreed with Jenrya, but he was far from done. I guess I'll have to do this alone. He thought, his resolve firm, as he ran to the next location on his list: the area around the government buildings. Takato decided that his only option was to excavate sites known to be connected to the Digital World, and HYPNOS was a no brainer. He walked determinedly, fixing his eyes on the glass-and-concrete monster that housed the secret agency. It wasn't right for me to drag him along like that. He doesn't understand. No one does.
He walked up the steps to the entrance an fully expected to walk through with no trouble until-
"Hey! Kid! What are you doing here! This site is off limits!" A security guard blocked his path to the revolving doors. Takato recognized him.
"I was here earlier, remember?" Takato tried to smile innocently and keep his voice even, but it shook all the same.
"Nobody invited you this time, and that traitor Yamaki is incarcerated and awaiting trial. If you don't want to be tried as an accomplice you'd better get lost!"
Takato blanched and held up both hands in an appeasing gesture.
"OK! I'll go! Thank y- SEE YA!" He turned tail and ran until he rounded the corner where the guard couldn't see him. He put his hands on his thighs and panted heavily.
"Ugh! How am I going to get in now!" He whispered in frustration. Out of his right ear he heard the sounds of the city: Sirens, an ocean of voices and… the croaking of a truck engine? He wheeled around to examine the source of the sound and saw several workers unloading a truck, parked in front of… the entrance to an underground parking lot! That's it! The men carried the cargo away, presumably delivering. Scrambling into action, he climbed into the back of the truck and covered himself with a dirty sheet in the back. Five minutes in the darkness later, he heard the metal doors close and felt a series of small bumps lining the parking lot floor. He was in. Moments later the truck slid into rest and he heard the slamming of the front door. He waited for ten minutes more, inhaling the sickening scent of rusting metal, then he reached out of a hole in the metal doors and pulled at the metal door bolt, which clanked onto the floor. He pushed them open and daintily landed onto the concrete floor.
My hands are all rusty now. Takato observed, disgusted. It even stinks of rust. But then they were muddy to begin with, so what gives? Cheered, he grinned to himself. He pulled out his D-Ark and clicked to the compass page. Nothing. No reaction. What was the point of all this then? Deflated, he began to walk to the exit when faint beeps came from the device. It was pointing in the NE direction. He hid behind the truck until the next vehicle passed by, then dashed toward the opposing wall. Then, hidden behind another row of cars, he inched his way toward the corner and turned right.
There, at the other wall, was a small glob of blue light. His face brightened and he crawled toward it. He reached out with his hands and it became transparent, just like when Guilmon. He was about to plunge in when he remembered Jenrya. I can't do this without him. What if he worries about me like we worry about Ruki? What would the world think? He'd be all alone and we haven't even figured out half of what's going on yet! Sighing, he retracted his hands, and that was when he noticed something strange. Instead of randomized characters floating around in the blue haze, all he could see was ARGOS. Thousands of them, suspended like mines in the ocean. ARGOS… ARGOS… ARGOS… Takato lost track of how long he was crouching there. All he could do was stare at this word, his eyes glazing over and his mind full of questions.
Then a hand clasped his right shoulder and sharply twisted him around. Takato found himself face-to-face with the security guard; behind him stood a squadron of reinforcements. Security cameras! He gulped. He'd completely forgotten about security cameras!
"You think you're clever, sneaking around like that?"
Jenrya walked down a concrete alley towards his house, trying to dust off his filthy hands, wondering how he was going to explain himself to his parents. Other kids played in the mud and get scolded for the mess they made. Not Jenrya. Never Jenrya. He loved reading and video games above all else, but always knew when to stop. They never had to take away his computer or check that he wasn't secretly reading at night. He was the perfect, responsible child most parents could only dream of. Mother's eyes are going to pop out of her sockets! Jenrya thought to himself and chuckled. Suddenly, he felt a chill run through him. He halted in his tracks, alarmed.
"Hey!" A voice shouted from behind. He turned around to find a teenage boy standing at the entrance of the alley. "That thing has been following you all the way from the park. I don't know what it is, but you should watch out." He pointed to a spot above Jenrya's head.
Jenrya turned to look at where he was pointing: A white mist. His pupil dilated and he clenched his fists.
"Get out of here." He ordered the boy, who gasped in horror as the mist began to take tangible shape. "Now!"
They came for him at last.
Note: First of all, about the plot moving slowly. This is my first time writing such a big story (and it gets bigger later… Trust me it's actually harder to pull off than it appears). If I have to slap labels on it I'd say it's an action/adventure/existential/character study/sci fi/political drama/friendship/maybe-a-little-romance all in one.
Sorry, I can't please everyone here, but my primary objective is not writing Ryo/Ruki romance. You might get a bit of romance in here, but it's going to be very subtle and there won't be a lot of snogging or fluff or holding hands, and it will occupy a very small part of the story. I am however interested in human relationships- you might see that in my attempt to develop the relationships between Ruki and Izumi, Kouji and Ruki, Jenrya and Takato, Patamon and Izumi, Kouji and Kouichi, Kouichi and Izumi, etc. This is also why this plot is relatively slow- I don't want it to be a plot driven action story. I like characters interacting.
Ryo: He will be in the story so I might as well just spoil it here since he is listed as a main character and all: he is alive. But I haven't found the perfect moment to introduce him yet. And yes, he is up to something right now (so he has not been "put on a bus", to steal from TVTropes), as Takato et al do their thing, the consequences of which will have impact on the story.
I'm also going to point out that all of the characters are under enormous stress. Nothing has been going right for them- their good friends are dead, there's a secret, potentially destructive government operation going on, the Digital World is in ruins, and a lot of things are very likely to go wrong. That might affect how they behave and react to setbacks. If they seem OOC and quick to explode, it's because I'm trying to picture how most teenagers would act in their circumstances. As for "Storm and Stress", I thought it was quite appropriate, so I put it in the story. I highly suggest looking it up. That period (1760-1780) produced some great music and literature.
And finally, I apologize for not updating for so long. I had a busy term because I'm a junior math major, but winter break has started. I anticipate several new chapters in the next month. I promised myself I wouldn't beg for reviews... But I will ask for them all the same. I sorely need appraisal on how I'm doing if I am to develop as a writer. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, because I seem to have finally kicked the plot into action.
*Author Rant- Skip if you will: On Ruki, Characterization and Slap-Slap-Kiss
The above star points directly to where Ruki explains that she doesn't bite (hard)- yes, it's metafictional. Yes, it's a bit of an author tract. I'll let the cat out of the bag now- I didn't write this fic ENTIRELY for fun. Part of my goal has always been to set "right" what I've seen as "wrong" in the way a lot of characters are portrayed in fan works, because I adore the characters and seeing them assassinated is hugely painful for me. And of all characters in Digimon, Ruki, along with Daisuke, Miyako, Hirokazu are consistently flanderized, into loud, dumb jerks, brainless manic pixie dream girls, etc. Examples from other fandoms include Toph Beifong from Avatar, who is shown calling everyone nicknames 100% of the time even though that's not remotely accurate. It's even more ironic that Ruki is also one of the most beloved characters in the franchise, yet the very people who love her sometimes write her into an absolutely despicable person, but in a sympathetic light, as though we're supposed to root for her and her love interest! Allow me to explain.
I've seen this so much in fanfiction: Ruki punching and yelling abuse at and kicking and slapping the shit out of every male character who pisses her off, and often, her love interest bears the brunt of the abuse. Despite all that, he's still interested. Can you believe that? That's my problem with slap-slap-kiss. The world doesn't work that way. There's nobody so special, no love so strong that you can act like an utter asshole and still have people who want to date you, friends who want to be around you. I don't care what they went through together in canon- if Ruki turns into such a morally bankrupt person I have no doubt the other Tamers would drop her like a sack of hot potatoes.
She's portrayed as a tough female character who was initially shown to be belligerent and competitive. That much is true. But as her creator Chiaki Konaka stated on his website, he specifically didn't want to portray her as using dirty language just to make her tough and strong as a female. With all that said, can you imagine him writing her to be physically violent as well? And the TV show bears this out. Never, not even once, was she shown physically hitting anybody. Even that time she "kicked" Takato, it didn't actually happen and there was no indication she ever intended to truly kick him. It was sarcasm. It was play. She had warmed up to him by that point. So tl;dr: Ruki is not a violent or abusive person. She can be snarky sometimes but that does not begin to define her as a character, which, by the way, is actually very complex. And if she really turned out that way in some distant future fic you're writing, it would be far more true to life if every other character in the story just ditched her and maybe reported her to the police. She'd have to do a lot of community service to make up for all the abuse she's been doling out.
/rantover. Author out.
