I don't own digimon.

Date 10

Mixed Messages

Inside, Mrs Suzaki had set up an impressive feast in what most would see as an impossible window of time. But it's entirely possible that she is just efficient in that regard. Or perhaps had a lot of leftovers from the past week. Whatever the solution turned out to be at this moment didn't really matter.

"Mmm…" Cho remarked as she began to pile food onto her plate. "This is really good, Mrs Suzaki."

"Thank you, Cho." Mrs Suzaki answered as she passed a plate over to her daughter. "So how are you feeling, honey?"

Airu took a deep breath.

"Pretty good." the trapper remarked as her cheeks glowed red. She focused in on Cho, giving her a subtle wink. Actually, scratch the subtle part. It was quite obvious to all at the table.

"Oh my, Sugar." Cho mumbled as both Lilithmon and Jesmon's gazes turned towards them.

"Well, it's pretty clear." Jesmon added, scooping a spoon into some mashed potatoes and dishing it onto his plate. "Though, I'm not sure why that jester was so kind to Airu and Cho. She seemed to dislike the rest of us."

His comment seemed to catch both the trapper and her girlfriend off guard. While neither had put much thought into the why of that mess, it was a good idea to think about it.

"What do you mean?" Airu responded and got a deep breath in return. Jesmon's focus shifted to her parents, who gave him a nod.

"A few of this group's digimon have heard stories about the things that she's done." the royal knight explained. "Some of it good. Some of it bad. Never can really know with what sort of person. Or thing."

Airu's gaze shifted away

"Huh." Airu answered as let her gaze focus on her parents. "I'm guessing that's why some girl bribed my brother to steal a teddy bear?"

Her comment seemed to catch Mr Suzaki by surprise. His wife on the other hand, seemed more content with hearing about this. Though, her focus was more on Hiroshi now. While the boy hadn't been hurt in any way, such an event could affect him long after the fact. Yet, he seemed alright for now.

"Sorry about that, sis." he whispered as his father's attention focused in on him.

"What did the girl look like, exactly?" Mr Suzaki remarked. "Any scars, defining features, accessories?"

Hiroshi closed his eyes, revealing a light coat of possibly stolen eye shadow. After a few seconds of that, he shook his head.

Airu opened her mouth, only for Cho to shoot her a glare.

"Why do you want to know?" the baker remarked. "We handled it."

For that remark, Airu gave her girlfriend a slight tap to the leg.
"Cho…" Airu whispered, only to find her parents focus on both of them."They're just trying to get a better grasp on what happened."

Cho let out a sigh, choosing to take a couple bites of her food before making her next remark.

"Then by that same token, what is your two's story?" the baker countered and watched her girlfriend's parents look away. "I'm waiting."

But the answer never seemed to come. If anything, the two older chosen seemed even more willing to dodge the question. To some extent, they had nothing lose in either outcome. To them, the choice they made seemed like the more fun option. Sort of like a certain jester. But I digress.

"So how many members makes up this supposed group?" Hiroshi inquired, actually making an attempt at being helpful for the moment. "Or is mom and dad the only ones?"

Silence fell over the table, with Lilithmon shooting Jesmon a quick glance. In return, the royal knight gave her a slight nod.
"If we're counting both humans and digimon, twelve." Lilithmon explained as she let her focus turn to Airu and Cho. "Even split, both ways. We were all great friends. But look at us."

Her gaze shifted away from the duo and to her parents.

"When was the last time you actually answered Agni's phone calls and texts?" Jesmon continued. "Heck, St Clair and Triglav even called me earlier just to make sure you two were still alive."

Mrs Suzaki mumbled something under her breath and dug into her meal. After, she took a sip of something.

"Our time has long past." Mrs Suzaki continued and turned to Airu. "The next generation is right in front of us. Maybe it's time to pass on the torch."

Airu looked away, taking a deep breath in the process. While the full picture seemed quite fuzzy in her mind, she was starting to get a grasp on it. Well, she thought she had one at least. It was just as likely that she was grasping at straws.

"So you're just going to give up then?" the trapper inquired and looked to her parents. "For all you know, this whole hunt thing could've have just started. You throw in the towel quite yet. There has to be something that you can do..."

But the trapper's words fell upon deaf ears. So she took one more deep breath, finished what was on her plate and got up. After cleaning off said plate, she put in the dishwasher and made her way towards the staircase. Cho followed right behind, finishing off what she could to the best of her abilities and cleaning

"Thank you." the baker remarked and gave Mrs Suzaki a wave. But Mrs Suzaki didn't wave back.

After, the baker let her gaze turn back to her girlfriend. At the moment, Airu was already up the stairs and heading towards her room. So Cho did her best to keep up, still clad in her full armor. While a challenge, she somehow managed quite well and reached the top of the stairs in record time.

Of course, that didn't stop Airu from closing the door on her. Though, I think it was more of an accident that anything intentional.

"Airu, let me in." Cho remarked and watched the door slowly swing open. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

In the incredibly short time that occured from closing the door and Cho getting there, Airu had taken managed to get out a bunch of her precure dolls and set them on the bed.

"I guess." the trapper remarked, the cure heart doll in hand. "Want to join me?"

"Let me change first, Sugar." Cho answered, getting a nod in return as she was handed her casual outfit. A quick clothes change later, she looked over her options.

At first glance, a lot of the dolls all seemed the same. There were your Pinks with their bubbly attitudes and ability to make friends with just about everyone. Next up were the Blues, the brains of the group and the ones to balance out the Pinks. The Yellows were third, serving as the creative output of the team. Finally, there were the miscellaneous colors in the form of Green, Red and Purple. While by no means 'bad' colors, they sat at the lesser used of the precure color spectrum.

"Is this all of them?" Chi inquired.

"I haven't gotten the Hugutto dolls yet." Airu answered. "I'm waiting on Machirie and Armour to be released before buying the whole set."

Chi just stood there, unsure of how to really respond to that.

"Uh… Who's this gal's name, Sugar?" she remarked and pointed towards a doll with dark blue hair and dressed in a mix of blue and white.

"That's Cure Diamond." Airu explained. "She's Cure Heart's very best friend."

The remark seemed to go over Cho's head, with her only realizing what the trapper meant a couple seconds later.

"Oh."

Cho shifted her gaze away from the bed, only for something to catch her eye. It was a doll of similar nature to those on the bed, but appeared a bit less used than them. A black dress with a gray bat wing pattern covered it's body, while a pair of red-heeled shoes covered the feet. Blonde hair hung down to the doll's waist, while a pair of bright blue eyes gazed over it's supposed dominion.

"That's Regina. I kind of forgot about her." Airu responded and took a deep breath. "She's sort of a precure, sort of not."

They gave us that bitch Cure Ace instead. Because you know what, everyone loves a sudden addition without any explanation.

"Sure…" Cho remarked and carefully picked the Regina doll up, setting it down right by Airu's Cure Heart. "Sugar, what happened?"

The sudden changing of the subject caught the trapper off guard, but she took a deep breath and focused on Cho.

"I just don't get it."

"Get what?"

Airu shifted her doll a little.

"Why they seem so keen of just passing the torch to me and whoever else pops their head out of the woodwork?"

"Uh…"

Cho let her gaze fall to her doll. She pushed Regina forward towards Cure Heart, articulating the arms in such a way to wrap them around the doll.

"I'm not sure. I guess they just want to live their lives without having to deal with the various pains this sort of thing brings."

Airu gave a reluctant nod.

"I guess." she remarked and carefully manipulated Cure Heart's arms to wrap around Regina's body. "Though, that does make me kind of selfish."

Cho shook her head.

"They're here right now, Sugar." the baker countered as they looked over their handywork. "Best to get as much use out of them as you can."

With the two dolls now posed in a way that the duo found suitable, they turned their attention to Cho's bags.

"Got any pajamas, by some chance?"

Cho shook her head.

"Could I borrow some of yours then, Sugar?" the baker remarked and got a nod in return. After, Airu got out a pair of pink and purple pajamas. She hands the purple set over to Cho, turning around to give her girlfriend a slight bit of privacy. Once that was accomplished, the two pulled the covers back and snuggled on in.

Notes:

St Clair is the patron saint of television workers among other things.

Triglav is a three-headed Slavic deity believed to have once ruled over the heavens, earth and the underworld. His most notable feature was a gold blindfold over each head's eyes.