10. Away From Tears
The smell numbs something in his bones. It's so heartlessly familiar.
Daigo walks. On and on. He feels the numbness in his feet, the agony in his legs. Bakumon doesn't want to rest, and neither does he.
Their usefulness has ended. Now, they need to get what they came for and quietly, faithfully, disappear. It's the safest thing, really. It's for the best. What will he tell Hime's parents, though?
Nothing. Same as before. It wouldn't make sense to them anyway. Let them mourn her. What would he say if she asked? Nothing. It was easier to lie by omission.
The land is harsh on his feet, so harsh. He will probably break his shoes to rags by the time he gets to where he must go. Bakumon doesn't care, though e never really would. All he cares about is Hime now, the person he needs.
Their own first love.
Daigo pauses for water and splashes his face in a river. He groans to himself.
"What am I even doing?"
If only… if only he could go back in time physically too. Wouldn't that be incredible?
…
He doesn't remember this flower field well at all. Bakumon must because he's soaring way overhead. He can tell where it is through this endless amount of forest. Daigo goes slower. He has to. He lost his shoes. He doesn't feel any blisters, nor the shortness of breath. All he feels is the steady thudding of joy in his heart and can anyone blame him?
Hime, he thinks. I'm coming for you. I'm coming to save you now.
This time, she will not die. Definitely not.
None of them will let that happen.
…
Mochizuki Meiko wakes up alone in the nighttime. In the Digital World's nighttime.
She should be afraid. After all, she's never been here before. That said, she certainly has survived in the wilderness before. On nights when Father was too busy to come home and mother was bored. On days where the babysitter didn't want to be bothered, she had spent so much time in the mountains, fending for herself. He endurance was strong, her stamina was good.
Even loneliness is tolerable.
Was Meimei hungry, she wondered? She was likely scared and lonely and needed someone. But at the cost of needing others, she had hurt so many people.
Meiko grits her teeth. No. They had hurt so many people. Meimei with her claws, Meiko with her cowardice. She needed to get stronger. She just had to take this as an opportunity. She tries to smile to herself. Yes, that was what she would do. She would use this to get stronger and then-
Her thoughts are cut off by a rustling bush. She jumped in its direction as it rustled a little more. Fairly carelessly at that. Maybe it was a big animal… Meiko can't help but jump behind a large tree trunk as out toppled…
A little girl.
Short brown hair, bright amber eyes, skin tanned by the sun. Dressed in gentle pinks and lavendars, she looked like any little girl who would wander about. Except what was she doing here?
The girl pauses and looks at the ground. Then she looks at the sky. "I thought you said something fell," she said to nothing in particular.
Then, Meiko hears it, the sound of many softly flapping wings.
The child pouts. "Of course I believe you. But I don't have eyes in the back of my head!"
As her expression changes, as she moves, Meiko remembers a harmless set f photographs on a slightly dusty mantle.
Himekawa Maki was standing there, alive when she should have been dead. Daigo-san's… best friend.
But how?