Author's Note:

No, I didn't die. Life continues to happen at the expense of fiction. Updates when I can... like now!

Chapter 10
First Challenge

Everyone had forgotten about Guilmon.

He stood unhappily in the garden, watching the boys stare at Renamon... and Rika glower at the boys... and Renamon hover on the edge of panic.

Everything had been going so well. He and Renamon had been kissing and stroking each other and then she had begun to rub herself against him in a most amazing way... and then she had changed. Suddenly, instead of the strong, silky-furred vixen he knew so well, he was embracing a smooth, pale, and, in some places, slightly squishy human woman.

Now, most digimon aren't all that concerned about outward bodily appearance, since they and others of their kind are apt to drastically change their looks almost instantly by digivolving. In fact, Renamon's new body closely resembled her Mega form, Sakuyamon. Except with a lot less clothes. None, in fact. And a lot more... Guilmon frowned, groping for the right word. He'd heard it in conjunction with wavy hand gestures made in the air. He shook his head in frustration. The word didn't matter... whatever it was, Renamon had a lot of it. So, even though the change had been quite a shock to him, he was willing to go on with what they had been doing. Unfortunately Renamon wasn't.

She shoved his arms away, looking down at herself in horror, and then ran from the park. From the half-coherent things she had screamed as she fled, it seemed that she wasn't so upset with how she looked... it was the fact that she had become a "pitiful, weak human,"... as she had put it.

Even as a weak human, Renamon was faster than Guilmon was at a flat run but he determinedly chugged along in her wake, assuming she was headed to Rika's house. He only once passed anyone else on the pre-dawn streets: A slightly drunk, very startled businessman standing motionless next to a dropped briefcase and scattered papers and staring down the avenue in the direction Renamon had gone.

He had arrived in the Nonaka's garden just in time to witness the break-up of the awkward tableau in the doorway to Rika's bedroom.

"Rika! Do something!" Renamon wailed. "I don't want to be stuck like this! I tried to run, but this awful body could barely creep along! And these ridiculous things..." she hefted her considerable breasts in both hands, "…kept flopping around and throwing me off-balance and..."

If there had been any truth to the old cliché about sudden sexual arousal, both Ryo and Takato would have badly needed handkerchiefs at that moment. But Rika didn't need anything as obvious as a pair of bloody noses to let her know exactly what the boys were thinking. Their expressions made that perfectly clear. And if they had had eyes for anything but Renamon's statuesque new physique, Rika's angry expression and flushed face would have instantly cooled their ardor.

As it was, their first clue they had that their behavior wasn't exactly pleasing to Rika was when she shouldered her way past them and grabbed Renamon's arm, growling, "Go! Down the hall to my mother's room! Go!"

Ryo and Takto both took a couple of steps so they could observer the hypnotic sway of Renamon's bare bottom as she and Rika made their way down the hallway and into Rumiko's Room. "Wow," Ryo said softly after the pair had disappeared. Takato said nothing but gave a slight stunned nod.

The boys looked at each other and then Ryo turned his eyes to the bedroom, his gaze sweeping over the tangle of sheets and general disarray and then back to Takato's face. Takato couldn't help blushing. One of the things both of them had in common was that they were nice guys. But they were still guys. Talking about relationships just wasn't something they were accustomed to doing. The first few glances and slight gestures conveyed more than enough information.

So... you and Rika, huh?

Yeah. She's awesome.

Kinda surprises me. I thought you and... "Jerry?" That last, Ryo said out loud, there being no handy way to shrug out a particular person's name.

Takato thought about the awkwardness between Jerri and him after all the gang's digimon had returned from the Digital dimension. All but Leomon, of course. That was the seed of the problem. Jerri couldn't help being reminded of her loss with all of them around. She could feel more comfortable with... Takato inwardly cringed as he thought the word... normal kids. He had tried to nurture their relationship because he really felt something for Jerri, but it just hadn't worked out. They had drifted apart.

Takato summed it all up and an eloquent gesture with one hand, meaning; stuff happens.

Ryo nodded thoughtfully... and frowned just a bit. From when he had first met her at the Digimon Grand Prix, he had always been attracted to Rika... to her strength of character and determination, (not to mention her gorgeous eyes) but they had been kids... and as Cyberdramon's feral nature had made it necessary to keep his partner away from people for the most part, he hadn't been around much... and lately, not at all. He, being a bit older than the others, had certainly been feeling the growing pressures of being a young adult for some time but the wilderness and dangers of the Digital Dimension hadn't left him much time to dwell on them.

But now he was back in the real world where things were slow-paced and, for the most part, safe... and he had time to think... and Rika had... grown. When he'd left last time, she was still gawky and coltish even though undeniably attractive. But now...

Takato began to frown. Ryo's silence communicated things just as well as his sparse gestures, and the way he stared down the empty hallway told Takato somehow that his thoughts weren't on Renamon's dramatic new figure.

"Where's your partner?" Takato asked even though he was fairly certain Ryo had left him somewhere where he wouldn't be tempted to go on a rampage.

"Back in the Digital World," Ryo told him, "keeping an eye on Devitamamon's henchmen."

"Is it safe to leave him alone for..."

Ryo assumed that Takato had figured out what his half-formed thoughts had been and was just trying to distract him. He wasn't much in the mood. "Hadn't you better get dressed?" he asked, gesturing to Takato's rumpled kimono.

"Uh... sure." Takato glanced around for his clothes and Ryo slid the bedroom door shut from the outside.

As Ryo turned around, he caught sight of the fretting Guilmon in the garden. He walked to the edge of the porch and sat down, calling to the little red dragon. "Hey, Guilmon! Girlfriend trouble?"

"Uh... oh... hi, Ryo. Yeah, I guess. But she's not my girlfriend... well maybe she is now." Guilmon muttered uncertainly, "Because she's a girl now and she wasn't before... but 'digimonfriend' doesn't sound right, and anyway..."

Ryo cut him off. He wasn't all that interested in the complications of Guimon's love-life. Another romance was occupying most of his thoughts. "So what about Takto and Rika? How long have they been... in love?" He'd hesitated to say the word out loud but this was Guilmon he was talking to. Simply implying things wouldn't get him very far. Maybe this was just a... fling or something. Maybe he still had a chance with her.

Guilmon immediately opened his mouth to answer and then found himself in the unusual position of thinking before he spoke. He knew how long he had admired and been attracted to Renamon before getting the courage to tell her and thought back over all the times Takato had gone out with Rika before they had kissed. A lot of times they weren't really even dates... just hanging out... sometimes in a group with the other tamers... but Takato had always been happy-looking when he'd come back from those times spent with Rika.

"Guilmon?" Ryo prompted him after a long silence.

"Oh! Uh... I... I... think it's been a long time, now." he said quietly.

Ryo scowled a bit. Yes, he'd gaped at Renamon's naked new body... but he was male and human, after all. He couldn't help himself. But Rika... he'd gotten a pretty good look at her when he'd opened the bedroom door and she was... stunning. Ryo really was literally stunned. He sat on the edge of the porch, his thoughts whirling in a futile circle mainly consisting of, How did I not notice? How did I let her get away? Maybe Guilmon's wrong. Maybe...

Takato came out of the bedroom, dressed in his street clothes again, and went to his partner, ignoring Ryo. He'd had some time to think while he was dressing and the fact that Ryo hadn't taken his important news to HYPNOS or one of the other tamers first, but had come directly to Rika's house, reinforced his earlier suspicions about Ryo's thoughts. Ryo was older than he was. More experienced in so many ways. And even... yes, Takato had to admit it to himself, better-looking than he was. Takato was a nice guy all the way to his core but that didn't make him immune from jealousy. He ignored Ryo and spoke to his partner.

"Are you okay, Guilmon?"

"No, Takato," he sighed, "Renamon is unhappy and that makes me sad. I'd do anything to make her happy but I don't know what to do."

"I do," came Rika's voice from down the hallway. She had changed into her street clothes also and Renamon followed her in probably the only garment in the house that would fit her; one of Rika's mother's kimonos.

Well... almost fit her.

Models are thin. Mostly painfully so, and Rika's mother was no exception. The kimono strained across Renamon's hips and gaped above the obi, revealing a truly heroic cleavage.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't stare at my breasts," Renamon said woodenly.

The line obviously sounded like Rika had coached her. Digimon weren't normally body-conscious. Ryo suddenly figured out why Rika's face was still dark with anger.

"Of course not!" he said hurriedly, flashing his charming grin, "I'm sorry about before... you just surprised me."

"Oh?" Rika said, skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure!" Ryo turned his smile on her. "No offense to Renamon, but athletic figures are much more my type, anyway." He stopped short of saying, Figures like yours, Rika. Like most lucky people with a high degree of charm and charisma, he knew exactly where the fine line between flattery and flirting lay. He wouldn't give Takato any obvious reason to complain.

Takato just sputtered a bit.

"So you said you had an idea about fixing Renamon's problem?" Ryo continued smoothly.

"Yes," Rika said, her expression softening a bit. "Digignomes did this to her, so they're the obvious solution. We're going to the Digital Dimension to find some digignomes to change her back. And..." Rika put her hands on her hips and raised her chin defiantly, "…while we're over there, we might just find this Devitamamon and kick his butt up around his ears!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Ryo said as he laced his fingers and loudly cracked his knuckles. "When do we go?"

"Uh..." Takato put in, "… wait a minute! Shouldn't we call HYPNOS and coordinate with the other..."

"Check in with the bureaucrats?" Ryo scoffed. "How likely is it that Yamaki is going to let you run off and leave Tokyo defenseless because of a little something like this?" He gestured at Renamon. "No offense." He added in her direction.

Renamon just glared.

Takato began to speak again but Ryo cut him off. "In fact, Yamaki would be right. No sense in you or the other tamers deserting your posts. I'm sure Cyberdramon and I can handle anything by ourselves."

The thought of Ryo and Rika alone together in the Digital Dimension drove all logic and caution from Takato's head. Ryo was a good guy... a nice guy. But where Rika was concerned, Takato didn't trust him any further than he could throw a Megaseadramon. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to push buttons. "There's no way I'm letting Rika go into danger without me. I'm texting my dad a note. He can forward it to Yamaki." He hit send and closed the phone with a snap. "I'm ready to go right now if you want. "

Ryo smiled at him as if it was the best news he'd heard in a year. "That's the spirit! Now, it is! I know a great little Digital Portal behind a Chinese restaurant just a mile from here." Ryo still had slight hopes of calling Takato's bluff.

Rika was looking back and forth between the two in puzzlement. "Why are you guys acting so weird? We have to wait long enough for the stores to open. Renamon can't go to the Digital Dimension in a silk kimono! We'll go get some clothes and gear at a camping store. I'd like to be better prepared than the first time we went. And even if we don't need to eat over there, it would still be nice to be able to have some hot food or tea once in a while."

Ryo nodded. "Sounds good. And that'll give Takato some time to change his mind if he wants."

"I won't" Takato told him shortly.

Rika took the boys into the living room to make a list of supplies they'd need, deliberately leaving Renamon and Guilmon alone together.

Renamon went to sit down on the porch, wobbling a bit and supporting herself with a hand against the side of the house.

"Are you alright?" Guilmon asked.

Renamon waved his concern aside. "I'm fine... it's just that my balance is so messed up by not having a tail. What an awful body!"

"Takato and Ryo didn't think so," Guilmon said guilelessly, "I think they liked it a lot. They couldn't stop looking at you."

"I don't care what they think," Renamon replied and then hesitated, turning her face away from Guilmon. "I... I'd just hate to think that you didn't like how I..."

Guilmon reached out and took her hands gently in his large, curving claws. "It doesn't matter to me at all. I only care about what makes you happy. And anyway, I think you're... different... but still very beautiful this way. You're a lot like Sakuyamon, only bigger in some places."

Renamon grinned ruefully. "A lot bigger. I doesn't help with the balance problem, either!" Her grin faded away. "That's not why I'm so upset, though. It's... it's..." She hung her head again.

Guilmon squeezed her hands encouragingly, "Yes?"

"I'm so weak!" She kept her face lowered and continued in a nearly inaudible voice. "All my life I've been strong and I've always worked as hard as I can to become even stronger. But now..." She sighed.

"Don't worry! We'll find some digignomes right away and make them change you back! I'll do everything to make sure you get your body back, I promise!"

"Thank you Guilmon," Renamon said softly and pulled him into a tight hug. "You are so sweet."

Guilmon didn't say anything. His head was pressed against the upper swell of her bare breasts, and try as he might, he just couldn't regret them as much a she did.