9. The Tail Skips the Wall
"Tagiru, you idiot, I was trying to win!"
"So you tried to kill me instead!"
"Not my fault you just had to stand that close!"
Taiki sighed and shook his head. "You really need to be more careful, you two!" At their unified outcry of disagreement, Taiki took an aspirin, not even bothering to hide it this time. He was often torn between amusement and exasperation with just Tagiru. Since he had a partner as wild as he was, it was almost too much for someone like him to deal with on his own. It was way too much for Shoutmon, because he had a kingdom to run. And he's not that much better.
If only Yuu had come with, he thought. Then he dismissed the idea. Those two still got along like oil and water. It was like asking for the world to end about seven more times. Without the Code Crown as a set of poker chips.
"I'm just saying that-"
"You know, for having a growth spurt, your junior's brain ain't quite caught up with the rest of him." OmegaShoutmon shrank from his great golden form into his red one as he spoke, now barely reaching Taiki's waist. He spun his mic thoughtfully, as if contemplating how hard he could hit both high school student and partner over the head. Deciding to give it up as a bad job, he settled for swinging his microphone into their legs.
Taiki tried not to show how funny that was (he did have a small streak of sadism to him, he had to.) and turned around to the sound of Ballistamon's movements. "Oh welcome back," he said as his brain caught up with his eyes. "Is everything all righ-Zenjirou?!" He didn't move if only not to startle his poor flatmate into collapsing, because that sheen of sweat was obvious even from here. "Are you all right? What are you doing here?"
Zenjirou took a moment to answer. He was rather out of breath. Having to limp a relatively far distance in aggravating heat could do that to a person. "F-Following you of course," he managed to say once he had some air. "What do y-you think? You went into a flash of light! I couldn't just let you disappear like that." He went back to coughing.
Taiki was torn between being flattered and fondly exasperated. "You've seen Shoutmon by now Zenjirou. I'm fine. But thanks for worrying."
Zenjirou managed to fix him with an amused look. He already didn't believe him. Just what had Akari and Nene said to him? He'd have to find out later. "Shoutmon." Taiki let his expression sober again. Tagiru and Gumdramon went blessedly quiet. "Do you hear anymore Digimon in the area?"
Shoutmon shut his eyes and they all stood in an awkward silence. Then Shoutmon opened his eyes. "Nope. Not them or the crystals we've been seeing lately."
Taiki's shoulders sagged at last with relief. "Good. That's enough for today then. We can check back next time. For now, we should get back, Tagiru especially." He crossed his arms. "You shouldn't have come all the way here in the first place."
Tagiru made a face. "Someone's gotta look out for you, Taiki-san!"
"Shoutmon has been doing fine and I've spent most of my time working." Taiki kept his voice patient, but really. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and he especially didn't need his junior to worry about him, not from all the way back in Tokyo. "I do a lot less reckless acts than you Tagiru. Don't worry," he said, to soften the wince the blow. "I'm fine. You should get home before your parents worry."
Tagiru perked up quickly and nodded. He picked up his own red Xros Loader, looking all too eager to be cool for an instant. "Gumdramon, super evolve!"
Taiki could almost hear Zenjirou's jaw drop and he couldn't help his smile.
