Hey everyone, I'm sorry it took me so long to finally post. Exactly two months actually.I hadn't really planned it like that, but oh well. A lot of college preparations were occuring along with the fact that my family moved to another house. That took a lot of time. However, I've still got my inspiration and I'm going to work harder to get these chapters up faster.
Many of you believe that the girl brought into the story in the last chapter is Alice. I guess I did make her seem like she was Alice through her appearance... My bad. It's actually an OC that will have a very important part in the story. Also, the story will NOT be a Jerato. I had first started it out like that before I realized just how much I couldn't stand that coupling anymore.
WatcherComplex: So far, you've given me quite a few suggestions that are greatly appreciated and you help me keep on track with the story's plot, whether that was intentional or not. Thanks for being a loyal reader.
You Know You Love Me: nice comment as always. Glad to get your input. It's incredibly valuable to me and you know it.
Blue Bragon: Thanks for pointing out the diction issues, it's always been a bit of a problem for me. I'll try to avoid problems with that.
As for the story I mentioned, it's finally complete and I'm working on the sequel. I know there will be at least 4 in the series. All I have to do is get it up online... But I don't think I'll be posting it under NyxShadow but another penname, it all depends. i hope people will like it...
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, though I want to.
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Chapter 10
Takato walked to school, hearing people gossip over the digimon tournament and the battle the Legendary Tamers, Henry and Makoto had with Myotismon.
"… It was absolutely amazing. I never seen a fight as intense as the one against Myotismon. Talk about teamwork. I'm beginning to see just what separates the Legendary Tamers from the ordinary ones." one person told his friend as he passed by Takato. Like always, Takato was ignored, but the introverted boy found that it didn't bother him as much as it used to.
While everybody was focused on the the battles that had taken place during the weekend, Takato was more interested in the mysterious girl he had met in the alleyway.
'Who was she? And why is it so important that she "defend my strong heart from the darkness?"' he thought to himself with a small frown, absent-mindedly walking into his classroom and completely missing the friendly wave Jeri sent his way or the crest-fallen look that appeared on her face when he didn't acknowledge her.
"Something wrong, Takato?" Artemis asked her friend, breaking him out of his reverie. He gave her a warm smile. He shook his head.
"Nothing wrong, just thinking. A lot has happened in the last few days after all." Takato said, trying to assure Artemis that nothing was bothering him. He wasn't about to talk about the girl without more information about her. After all, he could be worrying about nothing at all.
Just as he sat down, he heard Nikki talking to Jeri about Nyx.
"… I wonder why he hides his face behind that hood. Is he ugly or something?" she asked, and Takato sweat dropped silently.
"Nyx is anything but ugly." Artemis spoke out suddenly. The two other girls turned to face her as she joined their conversation. "He's downright hot."
Takato barely managed to hide the bewildered look he had on his face as he looked at his best friend incredulously. He'd never imagine her to say that about him. The giggling that followed Artemis' statement only made Takato even more embarrassed.
'Great, Artemis. As f there isn't enough attention on my alter ego.' he thought dryly with a sigh.
"What's wrong, Matsuki? Jealous that your girl is showing an interest in another guy?" a particularly scathing voice called out. Takato shot a sharp glare at the speaker, Jiro. Why didn't that surprise him?
"First of all, Artemis isn't my girl. Second, why would I be jealous? There's absolutely no reason to be. She can be with whoever she wants." Takato replied calmly but Jiro just sneered.
"And you protest too much." the bully retorted. Takato's eyes turned gold and the hazard symbols appeared on his wrists as the crest of Chaos began to glow against his chest as the boy could barely control his irritation and anger.
"Drop it, Katsuya. You won't get anywhere with this argument, I can assure you of that." Takato threatened icily, teeth gritted.
Jiro just smirked at him, but he backed away, not willing to admit that the dangerous aura that had appeared around Takato had unnerved him.
However, no matter how Takato denied it, Jeri still felt as if there was something there between Artemis and Takato and she intended to find out just what it was.
Therefore, the moment the bell rang for the end of the school day, Jeri approached Artemis.
"Ano… Winthrop-san, could I speak to you privately?" the brunette asked Artemis. Artems looked a bit surprised, considering Jeri had never tried talking to her before. The reason for Jeri avoiding her had yet to come to her.
"Um, sure I guess. If that's what you really want." Artemis said, sounding a bit uncertain. Looking at her watch, she realized she had some time before she had to meet Takato and Rika to go to Hypnos for their daily training session. She figured she had plenty of time to talk to Jeri about whatever was troubling her.
Jeri led Artemis out of the school and deep into a nearby alleyway.
Artemis looked a little unnerved at this and gave Jeri a questioning look. Jeri sighed before speaking out.
"I didn't want to ask you this in front of everyone, considering the way Takato reacted earlier. Do you like Takato, as in do you like him more than a friend." Jeri said, startling herself with her own bluntness. Artemis looked absolutely bewildered.
"No, I don't feel for him like that, Jeri. He's like a brother to me, that's all." Artemis assured the girl, wanting to assuage her fears of Takato liking another woman. Of course, Artemis didn't know of the mysterious girl that had captured Takato's thoughts so she thought there was no competition for Jeri in the terms of having Takato's affections.
Jeri gave a relieved smile to Artemis, seeing the other girl's sincerity and realizing that Takato had really meant it when he said he had no romantic feelings for Artemis, they were only platonic.
Suddenly, Artemis felt as if they were being watched and cursed the fact that she had left Lucemon to wait for Takato and Rika and tell them where she was if she didn't return fast enough. It didn't look like Leomon was there either.
Just as she went on alert, several shady looking guys came out of the shadows and surrounded the two girls.
"What are a couple of nice girls like you doing in a place like this?" one of the men sneered, leering at the both of them. Artemis instinctively stood in front of Jeri, knowing she would stand a better chance in battle against these men than Jeri.
"What's it to you?" Artemis snapped coldly, eyes cold pieces of ice. She put on this mask to protect herself from people reading her emotions in dangerous situations. She was like Takato in that manner, but he kept up the mask at all times.
"You're on our turf, jou-chan. We have every right to know why you've come here." the leader sneered, as the group circled the two girls in an unnerving manner.
'They're trying to pyche us out.' Artemis deduced, her glare getting fiercer with every passing second.
"You may want to simmer down with that frown of yours, babe, or you'll get wrinkles on that pretty face of yours." another gang member jeered.
Artemis was about to reach for her bow and her arrows that was in her bag when she heard Jeri yelp and she whirled around.
One of the gang members had grabbed her while Artemis hadn't been paying attention and he now held her at gunpoint.
"You'll cooperate with us unless you want your little friend to pay the price of your actions." the leader told Artemis seriously and the man holding Jeri pressed the knife closer to Jeri's throat as a threat. Jeri let out a small whimper as a small stream of blood dripped down her neck from the knife breaking the skin.
Artemis glared at the gang hatefully, knowing she was stuck. She couldn't risk Jeri's life.
'Damn, I knew I should have told the others where I was going. Hopefully, Lucemon has met up with them already and told them.' Artemis thought.
Takato scanned the area for Artemis, not seeing her at their normal meeting place. Rika soon joined him.
"Where is she? It's not like Artemis to be late." Rika frowned. Takato nodded silently in agreement before his sharp eyes caught sight of Lucemon approaching them. His frown deepened.
"Lucemon, what are you doing here instead of being with your Tamer?" he asked/
"I would be with her right now, but she told me to stay here and wait for you so I could tell you where she is. Jeri-san pulled her away, wanting to talk to her about something. I don't know what it is that she wanted to talk about though. They headed towards an alley nearby. I'm getting a weird feeling about it though." Lucemon said, pointing in the direction.
Takato's eyes widened in horror. He knew the kind of people that stayed in those parts. He'd had the misfortune of being victimized by them a few years back. He'd been hospitalized for it and ever since then, he steered clear of that area.
"Damn it." he swore and he ran off in the direction that Lucemon had pointed at, leaving a confused Rika, Renamon and Lucemon behind.
As he ran, the hazard signs appeared on his wrists, burning off his wristbands and his eyes turned gold as he hid in the shadows as his clothes changed into the outfit he wore at the tournament.
With his transition into "Nyx", the Legendary Tamer found no reason to have to hide and rushed forward towards the alley that Artemis and Jeri were trapped in. He perched on the rooftop of the nearest building and watched with narrowed eyes as the gang bullied his best friend and crush.
One of the gangsters slammed bodily into Artemis, causing her to cry out in pain and fall to the floor. At that point, Nyx's anger sparked into full-fledged rage.
He melted into the shadows and appeared behind the man who held Jeri at knifepoint. Manipulating the shadows had been something he had learned how to do months ago due to his need to stay hidden while fighting off the bio-emerging digimon. Now he could use it to his full advantage.
Sneaking up behind the man, it didn't take him more than a few seconds to knock the man out by pressing the sensitive pressure point on the man's neck. As the man crumpled, Nyx braced Jeri as she fell back from having nothing supporting her anymore. He quickly masked her location with the shadows before approaching the alarmed gangsters with a menacing aura surrounding him.
"Messing with innocent girls is something only playground bullies do. Give me one reason to think of you as anything higher than that in the food chain." Nyx said in a mocking voice that infuriated the gang members. A hidden smirk appeared on Nyx's face. Now that all their attention was focused on him, they would pay no mind to Artemis, which is exactly what he had planned.
Giving a silent glance to his fellow Legendary Tamer, Nyx noted that she had taken out her bow and arrows.
'Smart move.' he silently complimented before taking out his own blade and getting in a battle stance as the gangsters brought out an array of vicious looking weapons. Luckily, none of them had guns. The last thing they needed was bullets flying at them from several directions.
Moving quickly, Nyx used the darkness of the alley to his advantage as he blended in with his surroundings and disarmed several of the gangsters using the element of surprise. Artemis did her part by pinning the gangsters down with the use of her arrows that immediately paralyzed each man as it locked him in place. She had discovered this particular ability during training and found it quite useful to subdue someone without seriously hurting them the way arrows were meant to. She didn't want to deal serious damage to a human, at least with her weapons over her own fists.
However, the leader wasn't stupid and was able to catch onto the two Legendary Tamers' strategy and started forming his own without letting in on his intentions.
Therefore, it took Nyx by surprise when the leader actually read his intended path and blocked his attack with one hand before launching his own. Nyx managed to twist away, but the blade in the leader's hand managed to leave a nasty gash across his chest. Nyx let out a snarl of pain while Artemis cried out in alarm.
Like with Toki, Nyx's temper sparked, causing the crest of Chaos to glow malignantly from where it was hidden under his cloak.
His attacks grew more rapid and vicious, making it hard for the leader to keep up until Nyx finally managed to knock him out with a harsh swing to the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword.
Breathing heavily, Nyx turned to Artemis, who looked a little bemused to see his little temper tantrum.
"Both of you okay?" he asked curtly as he pulled Jeri out of the shadows. She blushed faintly at the contact with the mysterious Tamer but quickly hid her excitement.
"We're fine." she said softly, trying to get a good look at Nyx's face with little luck.
"Just a little bruised." Artemis responded, looking concerned for Nyx. "Are you okay? You got cut pretty badly."
"I'll manage." Nyx grunted, preferring to get away before Jeri had anymore time to actually look into his identity. He started backing away. "Artemis, do you mind telling Yamaki that I'm not going to be at the meeting today? I'm sure he'll understand."
"Sure, if that's what you really want." Artemis said softly, still looking a little worried for her best friend.
"You're leaving?" Jeri asked in slight disappointment. Nyx turned his attention on her, not sure how he felt about the dreamy look in her eyes focused on him.
"I don't let myself be in the open like this for long. It's bound to gather unwanted attention." Nyx responded as nonchalantly as he could before vanishing into the shadows.
"He's getting better at that…" Artemis remarked, blue eyes fogged over with a mix of worry and bemusement over Nyx's behavior. It seemed with every day he hid his real identity, the more cold and detached he became and that troubled her to no end.
'Don't lose your kind heart, Takato.' she thought forlornly. She turned to Jeri and gave her a shaky smile.
"We should call the police." she said and Jeri nodded silently, still looking at where Nyx had once been with a faint blush on her cheeks.
Takato stumbled into Shinjuku Park, clutching his bleeding chest with a grimace. He knew he should have at least had Artemis bandage it for him, but he'd wanted to get away from Jeri as soon as possible. It made him feel uncomfortable to be in his alternate form near someone he'd known for so long that didn't know his secret.
What bothered him even further was how Jeri had looked at him. She'd never looked at Takato like that… That look of awe and fascination that she had focused on Nyx.
'Here you are with a nasty wound and you're thinking about the way a girl thinks about you.' Takato scolded himself with a shake of his head.
He heard someone approaching him and turned his head to the side to see the mysterious blonde girl approaching him.
"It's you!" he exclaimed out in surprise and the girl managed a small smirk.
"Me." she responded teasingly about his obviousness, causing the boy to blush faintly as she kneeled down in front of him with the first aid kit she'd brought with her.
"How did you know where I was, and that I was hurt?" Takato asked in confusion as the girl started taking out supplies. The girl smiled at him mysteriously.
"As I said, the Sovereigns sent me to watch over you. I have my ways of knowing when you need help." she said. "Take off your shirt."
"Nani?" Takato yelped, surprised by the bluntness of her demand. The girl gave him a pointed look.
"Take off your shirt. I won't be able to dress your wounds with your shirt in the way." she demanded. "Or would you prefer I took it off for you?"
The girl couldn't help but smirk as a rather red Takato rapidly pulled off his blood-stained shirt to reveal the gash that was still bleeding, but only slightly.
Taking the shirt from Takato, the girl added slight pressure to the wound until the blood flow finally ceased. Then, she moved onto using a rag covered in alcohol to clean the wound, whispering apologies at Takato's hisses of pain.
"I know the Sovereigns sent you here, but that can't be the only reason you're doing this. I mean, why do you feel the need to disrupt your everyday life for my sake?" Takato queried as the girl bandaged his chest silently. She looked up and met his eyes suddenly and he was taken by surprise by the barrage of emotions passing through her eyes.
"There are some things that shouldn't be known until both parties are ready, Takato. This is one of them." she responded calmly as she finished bandaging his wound. "The bandages will need to be changed every five hours or so. Think you could meet me here at 8:00 tonight? I can change them for you. I'm sure your friend Artemis can help you with it tomorrow at school."
As the girl turned to leave, she was surprised as Takato grabbed her by the wrist.
"Can I at least know what your name is? I'd like to know who the person who is helping me is." Takato said, looking up at her pleadingly.
The girl stared at him silently for a moment before speaking out.
"Shiho… Shiho Miyano." she said after a moment's hesitation. With that said, she slipped out of Takato's grasp and walked away silently.
"Shiho…" Takato repeated quietly as he started walking towards his home. A small smile appeared on his face, his previous worries over Jeri long forgotten. "…Beautiful…"