(Notes:
So! It's only been... almost four years since the last real update. I guess that's better than never updating again? But I love the story far too much to just let it die, I guess! Being able to re-watch the series via Toon Disney during a pretty miserable summer is what sparked my renewed interest, though it wasn't until last month that I could even touch the progress of this chapter. Once I finally got the ball rolling in continuing it, I realized it was this month that I actually started BMD! The 24th, to be exact. So on the 5th anniversary of this story, I give it a much needed update! While I waited to continue this chapter, over the summer I looked over my older chapters and gave them a bit of a revamp, so it might be worth a look-through if you've read them already beforehand. When you're 21 years old like me, looking at stuff you wrote when you were 16... you kind of get that urge to fix it, you know?
I had lost touch with the story before and forgot exactly all what I wanted to do, then the fandom faded from my life. Not only is it renewed (I guess Savers premiering Stateside helps too), I remember exactly what I wanted to accomplish with this story!
That said, what to expect from this one? Well, I'm probably an asshole, updating after 4 years with a chapter that ends in a cliffhanger... Chapter 10 is best to be thought of as a Side B to Chapter 9. That means part of this chapter actually takes place before the end of 9 (roughly the first half); this is the school day Hirokazu vaguely described to Ruki before they went on their sewer adventure (hence, before Hirokazu bumps his tailbone). The later half is composed of events that occur while Hirokazu and Ruki are in the sewers. It's a little bit confusing... admittedly, I didn't think through it that well when I wrote Chapter 9. Anyway, Chapter 11 should have things back in chronological order, whenever that comes out. Hope this was worth the agonizing wait...!
Also, I'd like to note that with the completion of this chapter, By My Decision has officially become the longest story I've ever written! While the gap between second place will surely grow with future updates, currently it now only narrowly passes Brotherly Love, which was my first South Park fanfic... which no longer exists on this site because it was in script format. But still, six digits! Pretty monstrous... here's hoping for seven by the end! )
( POV - Takato )
So... I've had some time to think over the little realization that came over me last night.
I guess nothing changed… I still felt the same way I always did. And since I was certain I was in love with Juri when I felt this way for her…
… It couldn't be different for Jenrya. Not because he's a boy or anything, no. For whatever reason, the same-gender thing wasn't fazing me very much.
School hadn't started yet. Like I planned, I came a bit earlier than usual this morning… most of my friends come early anyway, and Jen's one of those people. Juri as well… finding either of them would satisfy me well enough, but I absolutely had to find Jen before the day was over. I really have about one class with him, and that's closer to the end of the day…
I'd probably have better chances at lunch, though.
But it wasn't the time to worry about the future; I had some time to talk to him now, so I intended to make use of it. Unfortunately, when I poked my head into his first period classroom, I found nobody inside. Save for a drowsy teacher sipping her mug of coffee, but there wasn't a Jenrya to be found.
Kenta was the only one who had a class with him this period… and I already passed by our normal meeting area by the lockers; he hadn't arrived yet.
It was a little weird… unless there was some big conversation to be had amongst the group, Jenrya almost always stayed inside the classroom before school officially started. And since none of my other friends were here, it would mean that Jen's late being early for once, or that he's wandering somewhere else in the school; the latter was definitely more unlikely.
Still, I felt a little uncomfortable stalling at the front door of this classroom, just waiting for him to pass by. It might make me too obvious… and being obvious is the last thing I wanted to seem like around Jenrya. All I wanted was just a simple, innocent talk with him before the bell sounded off. I hadn't seen or heard from him since the festival… after realizing how I really felt about him, that empty feeling building inside me was now making me sick…
Even a simple "Hi" would make me feel a little better…
I just knew something was going on. Jenrya would never do this to me for no reason… if he doesn't want to talk to me, who would he talk to? Terriermon? Even he hasn't been able to tell us much.
I guess I could deal with it if he didn't like me back… besides, half the time I'm convinced Juri doesn't return my feelings for her; this is really nothing new… except for the fact that I've got the same feeling for two people going on at once and they're not really fighting and making me decide who I liked more.
I just felt like I loved both of them equally.
It wasn't right. I knew it wasn't right. I just had no idea what I was going to do about it... it's not like I can just magically make myself not be in love with either of them.
Solutions weren't coming to me at all, though… maybe I did need some help. Not that I'd have the guts to confront Jen or Juri about it, or even ask them what I would do in the hypothetical sense… it would have to be someone else. Preferably someone who's had experience in something like this.
I'd worry about that later, though.
I just found Jen. …. He was roaming the halls. It's just been a week, and already I'm incorrectly predicting his own actions… being his best friend, it's a telling sign when everything goes wrong right off the bat.
( POV – Nobody )
In that moment, Jenrya's walking significantly slowed. He secretly wanted to flee. His eyes were widened at the acknowledgment of his best friend's presence. The best friend he voluntarily refused to see since the festival. At this point, Jenrya could only wonder 'Why?' Why he was being so cold lately to everyone… more importantly, why he was even listening to what his anonymous messenger was telling him to do?
Simply put, Jenrya was afraid. He was scared to death over what might happen if he didn't do things the way this quasi-person requested. Honestly, he hated being controlled by something that hid its face the entire time, but Jenrya simply wasn't going to do anything stupid ala Hirokazu.
He knew this creature had power. And until he could bring himself to tell everyone about his situation (that alone risked testing his stalker's patience), Jenrya felt he had to deal with his problem on his own, and not involve anyone else on the matter. After all, he was already beating himself up over Juri's part in the first meeting… since Jenrya was completely convinced it was really him who the creature wanted. Somehow, obviously, Juri became a pawn for the bigger game to come… And Jenrya couldn't stand that. He was aware of the mental turmoil that had plagued Juri since her childhood back when the D-Reaper was causing madness and destruction. The thought of her being trapped in the slimy captivities of this new foe's dimension, just like he was… Jenrya would never forgive himself if Juri went through something like this again.
Jenrya himself wasn't looking forward to going back anytime soon. However, even before the figure left, he already promised another visit with him that would soon come. If he weren't a blobbish form of smoke, Jenrya wouldn't have hesitated to personally dismantle him, piece by piece. It was against Jenrya's natural routine of handling such things, but all Jenrya wanted was to nip this problem in the bud.
He did not want this to spawn and mutate into another world-threatening situation.
Sadly, though, Jenrya learned the hard way that he would have to be sneakier in order to overcome his enemy. His raw anger and violent tendencies towards the figure only backfired on him.
And most importantly, though this mysterious force had promised another visit with Jenrya soon in coming, since the incident in his bedroom, Jenrya had not heard or seen that peculiar body or the patronizing voice since that meeting.
Not that it's been an extremely long period of time, but the fact that he wasn't here to bother him yet concerned Jenrya, and now he was constantly paranoid that his little uninvited guest would pop in for an unexpected moment and take him back to where he so dreaded.
Then, back to Takato… Takato, who was so eagerly (and seemingly nervous) standing behind Jenrya, his shivering hands grasping each other as Takato lifted them up to his chest. Not that Jenrya could tell, for he wasn't yet looking at him.
The main reason for Jenrya's fear at this very moment were the words his gut instinct practically screamed out to him the last time he attempted physical and social contact with his best friend.
"DON'T LOOK AT HIM."
"DON'T GO NEAR HIM."
"DON'T TALK TO HIM."
"DON'T TOUCH HIM."
Right now, Jenrya was not doing any of those things, as he stood, facing away from Takato. No part of his body was touching his friend's, and he certainly wasn't talking to him yet…
But did he break the "go near" rule?
After all, it wasn't Jenrya who initiated this meeting. In fact, the whole reason he was wandering the halls of his school, something he's rarely been known to do, was to avoid having to be encountered by Takato just before school. He knew by now that Takato was probably upset with his blatant lack of presence during his friend's time of need. Not that it was unreasonable, but Jenrya felt like he had bigger things to worry about now. Especially since Takato was clearly healthy again… this was more than what could be said for Jenrya himself.
He was a mess. Even with his resolve to sleep through his enemy's ranting tirade, he still could never really, fully be able to sleep. After all, the slime on his bed alone was a good source for nightmares to keep him mentally awake.
Remembering that almost tempted Jenrya to just spite his own instinct and be with Takato anyway. Jenrya suffered many lonely nights by choosing not to see him. He couldn't even bring himself to tell Terriermon why… all of Terriermon's relentless prodding in the world couldn't break open Jenrya's secretive shell. And despite how much Jenrya wanted to be alone, he still secretly wanted to see Takato… Takato always seemed to be the exception of Jenrya's unwilling daily social duties. He was just… special.
Luckily for Jenrya, his gut instinct still allowed him to think about Takato…
"Jen…!"
Came the inevitable dreaded voice. Jenrya could only bear to look at Takato from the corner of his eye; hopefully that didn't count as really looking at him. But then there was another problem… responding to the call.
"Ah… I d-didn't expect to find you here," Takato stuttered, "S'not often that you're just walking around the building for the heck of it, right…?"
This encounter would get ugly if Jenrya didn't do something, fast. Without further thinking, he turned himself around so his body was facing Takato. His face, however… more importantly his eyes, were blatantly strayed away from his best friend. Not that there was anything remotely of interest to look at aside from lockers in this section of the school.
Takato immediately realized something wasn't right with him. Jenrya's behavior… his hesitance to face him, the fact that he seemed to be prolonging his right to be silent as much as he could… it was an odd way for him to act, especially around his own best friend, the only human being Jenrya ever felt completely comfortable talking to.
"Mm."
That was it. That was the only response Jenrya would give him. Something he didn't even need to open his mouth for… this only made Takato's fears more of a reality; Jenrya had a problem, and it involved him. He certainly acted like he knew something that Takato didn't… and worst of all, it definitely seemed probable that Jenrya knew of Takato's own secret. Takato stayed true to his original intention, however; he tried to remain innocent and casual about this failing conversation.
"So… you're feeling better too…? I'm glad we're both healthy again," Takato said. "I got all my homework caught up from the days I missed… how about you?" He did everything in his power to avoid talking about the festival, and more so why Jenrya refused to visit him.
Jenrya's eyes were still averted from Takato. He gave a quieter "Mm" acknowledgment this time, along with a slight nodding motion. This was, in fact, a lie. Jenrya had outright neglected much of the homework he missed, mostly because of his mental turmoil over the festival, and now recently this new enemy.
A great sting of emptiness struck Jenrya's body in that instant. At that point, he knew this wasn't right anymore. He simply couldn't bear being this distant to Takato. It was already painful enough having to act like this to Terriermon, but Takato… the only close human acquaintance he ever had (that wasn't a blood relative) … Why was he letting this relationship be strained by some shadow person who, though he happens to know almost everything on Jenrya, is still a complete stranger? More importantly, why was his gut instinct telling him to avoid his best friend, who Jenrya essentially relied on to get through many daily occurrences in life? Even his own intuition was siding with the mysterious stranger…
Jenrya was fighting it, but his logic seemingly wanted to turn the other way. And in a rare turn of events, Jenrya started believe that he should perhaps rely on his heart more than his head. Though nervous and uncomfortable, his heart, at least, still yearned for some much-needed catching up with Takato. That was all Jenrya needed.
Takato, meanwhile, felt a little alienated with his quiet friend. His innocent approach didn't seem to be working the magic he thought it would… now it was more tempting to just cut the chitchat and get to the bottom of this problem. Jen was becoming more and more like Ruki by the second… and Takato found his frightening. Especially considering that Ruki and Jenrya are already polar opposites…
"I see," Takato finally replied, looking right into Jenrya's eyes and noticing how he wasn't returning the favor. "I… see that I'm bothering you, then…"
"No…!"
Takato was frozen. He was close to turning his back on Jenrya and heading off, but hearing him actually say a word convinced him to stay put. As Takato looked back to Jenrya, he still saw the troubled expression on his face… "J-Jen…"
"You're not bothering me," Jenrya said, straining himself to utter those few words out. Whatever internal pain he was experiencing just increased a hundred-fold. "I-I… I'm sorry."
Takato's head leaned a little to the side… honestly, his best friend's behavior was bewildering. It left Takato himself a lack of ideas on what to say to him next… if he would respond or not… In fact, when he reflected on it, it never did seem to be easy to talk to Jenrya if something was wrong with him. Half the time, Jenrya seemed to either ignore or deny it completely… but after this festival, and what happened, it might be too serious for Takato to just let it slide.
He was almost certain Jenrya had a problem with him, and he was just too afraid to come out and say it. Of course, he could understand why… being Jenrya's only close friend, Takato imagined it wouldn't be easy having a beef with your only close friend, who was the tie to all of your other friends.
It was imperative for Jenrya to still maintain some form of social contact with his teammates; Takato was aware of this. So no matter how much Jenrya's behavior was asking for a cold shoulder, Takato would promise to not let himself get angry at him. At least it was obvious that Jenrya was uncomfortable with acting this way… perhaps that meant that he really did want to talk? But what was holding him back… Takato wondered how he'd get that out of his quiet friend.
"Y-you seem a little depressed," Takato muttered, still trying to get some form of eye contact with Jenrya. The eyes were still looking elsewhere. "Mind telling me what's the matter…?"
"Depressed...? Well, that's nothing out of the ordinary for me. It's nothing; I promise."
Jenrya's own eyes widened when he realized that might've not been the right thing to say. He didn't mean to say something that might draw more attention to him, saying something so ridiculous as if he'd always been depressed…
"Jen…" Takato sounded rather hurt. "Being depressed always means something is wrong. I… I know things must've been hard for you lately… so let me help you out, okay?"
Before he could give Takato a response, Jenrya's world suddenly came to a halt. Familiar feelings began to re-emerge as Jenrya witnessed his surroundings stopping with the time. Just to make sure of what was happening, Jenrya forced himself to look right at Takato, to find that he too seemed frozen and unaware of what was going on.
It was just like last time.
Jenrya's spine tingled as he watched a familiar black and oily ooze erupt from the floor and the ceiling. Slick trails of the slime lined the lockers, coated the floor, and were making a beeline for its target: Jenrya himself. And a little voice right in the back of his head practically screamed at him for making this happen. His logic was infuriated at this blatant disregard for common sense. Was it not obvious that something like this might happen if he didn't listen to his gut instinct?
Again, logic told Jenrya to run to the nearest slime-free area. And yet, Jenrya seemed too paralyzed in fear to move a muscle. Sweat and labored breathing returned to his bodily functions as he nervously looked at his surroundings from every corner of his eye… soon showing him that he was surrounded. The school itself seemed to fade away into the darkness radiated by the slime… Jenrya was further upset to find Takato slowly but surely fading away from him. Thankfully, the slime was passing through without so much as grazing any part of Takato's body…
So now he had inadvertently dragged his entire situation all the way to his school. Jenrya wondered how this was affecting the other students… and more importantly Takato, as he was quickly fading into nothingness. Before completely disappearing, Jenrya extended a hand out to his friend, therefore defying his own instinct for the fourth time. But just before Jenrya could feel the Takato's skin against his fingertips, Takato himself disappeared, leaving Jenrya completely alone.
In a way it delighted Jenrya to know Takato was spared from this world, unlike Juri from the previous time. Yet it also brought a great deal of depression in his heart to deal with the fact that, yes, he was not going to be able to talk to Takato until this ordeal was over; until he could face what had happened to them at the festival. Whatever that was… the way Jenrya's company talked, he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to talk to Takato after the fact. He desired it like nothing else, but he was still afraid. He was horrified at what he was being forced to learn.
Jenrya knew it had to have been something serious. By now, nothing petty could stand a chance at breaking apart the solid friendship he had with Takato.
With all that in mind, Jenrya, frustrated beyond his limit already this morning, wiped the forming tears in his eyes and prepared for the inevitable. In a giant, forceful wave, Jenrya was easily consumed by the darkness.
This was clearly something he would have to get used to.
( POV – Takato )
"Jen?"
Now what? It was one thing for him to pretend to ignore me, but right at this moment… something didn't seem right. I wasn't sure why, but right after I expressed my desires to help Jenrya through whatever problem he had, goosebumps quickly popped in on me for a moment. Naturally, I shivered on impulse, but the next time I got a glance at Jen…
He was different.
His eyes were devoid of pupils, now just looking like dull, lifeless gray circles. The uncomfortable expressions on his face had disappeared… they had faded into nothing. Nothing at all… Jen didn't look like he was feeling anything.
In fact, now he didn't look bothered as his eyes were finally staring right at me… and ironically, that was the one moment where I didn't want to look at him. …It was creepy, you know? Now Jenrya was dead silent. Had his eyes not been wide open, he could've easily been asleep. But something inside me did not like the way Jenrya was looking at all… and it really had me worried. I didn't feel comfortable speaking up to him again… but if I didn't do something, who would? Who else could get through to him? Apparently I'm the only one who hasn't tried…
But like everything else terrible, despite how unnerving Jen was visually, I just couldn't stop staring at him… I wasn't sure if it was just my curiosity, my desire to get through to him… or, well…. It was probably the fact that I've got a crush on him. More than likely… of course…
Slowly, I put my right hand over my heart. It… was starting to feel a little agitated again… but why? Why now? I finally had Jenrya where I wanted… I was finally talking to him (well, just barely… it's better than nothing at all, right?). The last thing I needed was another delay. It wasn't an overwhelming burst of pain like last time, at least… and this was no time to focus on myself and my problems! Mine must be minuscule compared to whatever Jen's going through… if they're so bad that he won't tell me… or his own family… or even Terriermon.
It just… hurt me. It hurt seeing him looking at me with those lifeless eyes. It made it look like he didn't care what was going on… what was happening to him, or even me. I found myself leaning against the nearest locker for support, as it was becoming increasingly difficult to stand on my own now. Jen's position and expression still stayed the same…
… Normally… Jen would freak out by now. He'd definitely go out of his way to be my human crutch until we got to a nurse's office or something. Since we've met, Jenrya has made it his personal habit to dote on me whenever he sees fit. Between me and Terriermon, it's a wonder why he only barely snapped under the pressure. In some cases he'll freak out more than others, but not once has he ever just stood still, acting like I wasn't even there.
… So who was this guy, and what did he do with Jen?
Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. After all, I had to remember something: he may very well know about me already. I know I'm pretty obvious about who I like and don't like, and it didn't take Jen long at all to notice my feelings for Juri. The feelings for Juri which still existed along with my feelings for Jen… I wonder if Juri would have anything to say about this…?
My heart nearly burst from my chest as I felt myself jolt up when I saw that Jenrya was making a movement. … He was… leaving?!
It was a very slow movement, but Jenrya slowly made an about-face and started walking away from me… until I couldn't see it anymore, his expressionless face still remained the same. It was like he was a robot or something… that's how he was acting. Still as quiet as ever, he made agonizingly slow steps away from me… and then I just realized he was walking the wrong way.
He'd have to pass by me to get to his class… instead, he was going the other way… towards the stairs that would eventually lead him out of school… but surely he wasn't… right?
I shoved myself off the locker as I watched him make his distance from me. Just like that, all of a sudden... he didn't want to be around me. He wouldn't say why…
A crush is only a crush. There was no need to worry about that for now… but I wasn't going to be like Jenrya. I wasn't just going to… hide from this problem and pretend it didn't exist. Just then, I vowed to myself that I would help pull Jen out of whatever he'd gotten himself into. But for some reason, I didn't think I would be able to do this alone…
And I didn't want to be alone. Being stuck at home for so long made me sick of that. It was time for me to seek out a second opinion for this situation. … Perhaps a third and fourth as well…
( POV – Nobody )
Leaning as far back in his chair as humanly possible without tipping over (not to say he wasn't extremely close to doing so), Hirokazu lazily glanced to his classmates while gnawing on a pencil. Their teacher was not presently in the room, as an impromptu chatting session ignited between him and a passing-by friend of his at the beginning of class. Thus, class turned into study hall. Naturally, most students opted to socialize over studying, and Hirokazu was certainly one from that majority.
He couldn't help but notice his two close friends, Takato and Kenta, remained quiet and rather deep in thought. Hirokazu wasn't about to let either of them have a moment to themselves, however.
"Come on," he urged, making sure his voice was very clear and easily heard to his friends as he sauntered over to their area. "There's no excuse for you guys to be moping around when we've got a free period. Talk to me, people! I'm like, bored to death!"
"Not everyone is like you, Hirokazu Shiota," Kenta said with a huff, as he rested his face against his palm. "Some of us actually have real concerns in our lives that are worth sacrificing some 'social' time to think about."
Takato looked up to face Hirokazu, seemingly apologetic. "Sorry, 'Kazu. I've kind of been… a little mentally occupied today."
"It's not healthy to think too much," Hirokazu advised. "Besides, thinking never got me anywhere. Not to mention it gives Kenta headaches nowadays when he does it in excess amounts."
"Though it can't be said for certain if it isn't just you who's giving me these migraines," Kenta pointed out. "Just admit that you're a hassle and way more trouble than you're worth."
Hirokazu scoffed. "That's what a quitter does, Kitagawa."
Takato blinked… not sure if he was following Hirokazu on that. "How exactly does that make you a quitter?"
"Of the three of us, am I the only real male here?!" Hirokazu asked out loud to no one in particular. Of course, this brought a few stares to the group… not that Hirokazu gave a care. "Geez, it's like we're in kindergarten again. Okay, let me try to translate for you, Takato: admitting your inferior qualities in ANY way means you're giving up. That makes you a quitter, see?"
Then again, it occurred to Takato that maybe it wasn't necessarily his own fault that he couldn't follow Hirokazu. Perhaps it was just impossible.
"I'm sorry, I still can't see how it makes sense," Takato admitted, shrugging. He didn't want to be too offensive; after all… his social track record wasn't in good standing today. "I think it's more of an acceptance or awareness thing, but that's just me…"
"You're right," Kenta cut in, nodding to Takato. "At least, you're way more right than 'Kazu. We're all flawed. Acknowledging those flaws makes you able to focus on overcoming them, rather than denying and not doing anything about them."
"Did I ask for you to dissect everything I say and totally kill its charm with your scientific mumbo-jumbo?" Hirokazu asked, attempting a snooty frown while smoothing back his hair. "Besides, there's no way I'd follow your judgment, or even yours, Takato! You guys totally don't have any self-esteem."
"It's not like your way is working any better than ours," Kenta interjected, though not with very much energy. In fact, he seemed a little out of it today… "Not like bickering about this is getting us anywhere." Kenta turned to Takato suddenly. "But what's on your mind? I mean, you just got better, and all… are you sure you're okay?"
Takato was a bit startled, as he abruptly became the focus of attention. He looked back and forth to Kenta and Hirokazu, stuttering before finding the words to make a coherent sentence.
"Ah, actually… I…." Takato paused, thinking back to earlier in the morning. The incident with Jenrya had happened about three hours ago. "Er, Kenta… have you seen Jen at all today?"
Kenta seemed a bit surprised himself at the mention of Jenrya. "Actually, come to think of it… I was meaning to ask you about him. He didn't show up for first period at all… considering what happened recently, I was hoping he was alright… he's like the last person who would ditch class for a stupid reason, right?"
"That's true," Takato muttered softly, his eyes finding the floor much more interesting at this point as his concerns came rearing their ugly head again in the back of his mind.
"Well, I did see him before school started today… he kinda left all of a sudden and didn't go into the why very much."
"Heleft?" Kenta inquired, adjusting his glasses. "What's that supposed to mean? When did he exactly leave?"
The shaggy-haired youth closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was actually telling his friends about this private moment… not that outside of Jenrya ditching, there was anything in the way of incriminating information that Hirokazu could even make use of. Still, Takato felt like he was betraying Jenrya in a way… but he was so puzzled at how his best friend would even react now. But he promised himself that he would do whatever it took to get to the bottom of these problems… both his own and Jenrya's. And Takato hated letting himself down as much as he hated letting down any of his friends.
"The last I saw of him, he was heading towards the entrance of the building just before first period started…"
Hirokazu's eyes widened. "So he did ditch!"
Kenta, however, looked slightly indignant of the prospect. "And you asked me if I saw him first period why, Takato?"
Takato only gave a weak shrug, still not looking at either of his companions. "I thought that… maybe he came back in… that maybe he didn't leave for the whole day. This was before school started, after all…"
"What the hell did you say to him to make him wanna ditch, man?" Hirokazu questioned, obviously not giving much in the way of deep thought for his input and going with his first assumption.
"I-I barely said anything!" Takato snapped back, instinctively. He was standing straight up with his eyes focused on Hirokazu. And just as soon as he realized his sudden jumpiness, Takato backed down a little. "He… he wouldn't really talk to me… I just wanted to know what was wrong…"
"All things considering, what happened the week before," Kenta reconsidered. "Now it doesn't seem so surprising. Though it didn't stop Jen from going to school…"
"Not until today, apparently," Hirokazu pointed out. "What a bummer. This is Takato's first day back, too."
"I miss him," Takato admitted, bowing his head, almost as if he were ashamed of that. "I'm… kind of afraid that it's all my fault, you know?"
Kenta shook his head. "In most circumstances, you can do no wrong in Jen's eyes. You would've had to do something wrong on the criminal level to make him mad at you."
"Man, does he ever get pissed at us when we even make fun of you behind your back!" Hirokazu exclaimed, almost fondly. He chuckled for a moment, and then went quiet as soon as he realized Takato was staring at him. "Not that we… do that… behind your back. … Seriously!"
"Forgive me if I'm not taken aback in shock," Takato muttered, looking nothing beyond mildly annoyed. "I didn't think Jen was so defensive of me, though…"
"He makes it more apparent when you're not around," Kenta explained. "But while I'm on that line of thought… he's really not talked about you last week. Remember, 'Kazu? When you brought up that incident with Takato and the ballerina slippers from second grade in front of a huge lunch table?"
Takato's stomach turned automatically at the mention of that dreaded memory.
"Oh, yeah… man, I half-expected Karate Maniac Jenrya Lee to crack a table over my head for letting that one further ruin Takato's rep," Hirokazu recalled. "I mean, he was standing right there and all… but he didn't say anything! He didn't react… he just kinda stared at me for a bit and then walked away."
"Not like him at all," Kenta concurred. He glanced over to Takato. "I thought it was a little weird, but just some kind of weird coincidence at first…" He began to look concerned. "Honestly, Takato, are you guys having some kind of fight?"
"A fight?" The idea of such a thing almost made Takato's eyes well up with tears. Between that possibility and the events of the past few hours, the sensitive goggle boy couldn't handle a worst case scenario like that. "No… I mean, if Jen's mad at me, I don't know about it… b-but, the truth is…"
Both Hirokazu and Kenta leaned in closer; a bit too close for comfort, actually, each intrigued by what Takato had to say about this fishy situation.
"The truth is… this morning was the first time I've seen or spoken to Jen since the festival," Takato's eyes closed, trying to will away his inevitable crying.
Takato's friends resumed their normal postures after hearing that. Both of them had rather unintelligible expressions, trying to process the words…
"It's not like I haven't tried to contact him," Takato assured, his voice slightly wavering. "I-I couldn't do much before yesterday, since mom wouldn't let me out of bed, but I called for him on the phone several times every day… I've emailed him, I've used you guys to keep tabs on him… b-but he would never respond or call me back. He never came to visit me. And when I finally saw him today… I tried to be, like, casual, you know? I didn't wanna put him on the spot… but he barely spoke to me. And he just… eventually… kept saying less and less… then stopped responding altogether, and… went off his own way. Just like that…"
"So unlike him," Hirokazu muttered under his breath. "Unbelievable."
After processing that information, Kenta frowned, looking sharply at Takato. "Not that I blame you for wanting answers, but you might've scared him off. Then again, you're the last person I would consider a confrontational type..."
"Like I said!" Takato reiterated. "I didn't even mention the concerns I've been having with him recently. I just asked him how he was doing since it's been a while... it's like nothing I said even mattered to him."
"Even if Takato did scare him off, there's no way that would be enough to make Jenrya ditch school completely," Hirokazu reminded. "He's way too anal over his grades. Kind of like how you are now, Kenta."
Kenta rolled his eyes, mostly ignoring Hirokazu's banter. "So... what? You just made a little idle chit-chat and he bolted, just like that?"
Takato nodded, while Hirokazu looked rather miffed at being snubbed. "Well, kind of. He didn't exactly bolt, you see. At first he looked like he was trying to tune me out, but after a while, once I really started gabbing, Jen started looking really zoned out. He was all... spacey, like he was asleep, but still awake."
Hirokazu blinked. "I'm not really feeling these descriptions, dude."
"Well, uh..." Takato stammered, easily flustered as usual. "It's hard to articulate, you know? But he did have this scary blank expression on his face, which you don't normally see on Jen... and after a while, he just turned around and walked towards the exit. He didn't look natural at all; it was... robot-like movement."
"He's an ANDROID!" Hirokazu announced excitedly.
"Mm, no," Kenta not-so-gently ended his friend's fantasy. "So, Takato. That's really weird and everything... didn't you try to stop him, though?"
"Of course I did," Takato answered. "I knew where he was headed, and I knew it wasn't a good idea. But I couldn't get to him. My, uh..." He was feeling a bit self-conscious admitting his mysterious health problem striking again, but for the sake of finding out what was going on with Jenrya... there was little else to say. "My chest... it started hurting really badly again," he quietly added.
That was enough for Hirokazu and Kenta to adopt very serious expressions on their faces, the second they heard the last of what Takato said.
"You idiot!" Kenta cried, grabbing onto one of Takato's arms, as if he was fully ready to drag him to the nurse's office at a moment's notice. "That happened again, and you're worried about Jenrya?! Get up; I can't believe you waited this long before telling us that!"
Hirokazu followed suit. "Dammit, Takato! We just got you back! Don't let stupid crap like this happen and wait until now to tell anybody!"
Takato sighed. He didn't struggle against his friends' grasps, but he was firm in his position. "That happened a while ago, guys. It subsided after Jen left and I felt fine afterwards, and I feel okay now. Let's not go overboard."
"Speak for yourself!" Kenta protested. "Heart problems are no laughing matter, Takato. The doctors can't even figure out what caused the first one. You can't afford to be so careless!"
"I said I'm fine," Takato clarified, frowning. "It's not that I don't appreciate your concern, guys... but it was a very short-lived incident. I promise, if it ever happens again and it becomes a problem... I'll do something about it. But it did go on long enough to keep me from doing anything about Jen leaving..."
Hirokazu looked up, pondering something. "You don't think that maybe it's got something to do with Jen, do you?"
Kenta shrugged. "Normally, I'd say it's highly unlikely, but seeing as we don't even know what kind of ailment this is yet, it's best not to jump to conclusions one way or the other right now. Either way, he's made it pretty apparent that he doesn't want to talk to you, Takato. I'm sorry to say that, but..."
"... It's obvious, I know," Takato said, feeling pretty depressed upon confirming that. "I swear, I have no idea why he would want to avoid me. I almost wonder if... I did something that made him angry during the festival, but I don't even remember that whole night."
"Jenrya doesn't either," Kenta noted. "At least, as far as he's told us... that might be the key you're missing. But you know at least as far as the boat sinking, right?"
"Kind of. I mean, obviously since I've been told, but I can't really...recall it. I don't know what happened before it or what happened after Terriermon left to get help..."
"Terriermon said it took him a while to fly across the lake," Hirokazu pointed out. "And you guys must've been soaking in that lake for a long time to be in the condition we found you in. Something could've happened in that frame of time before we arrived."
"Like what?" Kenta inquired. "They were swimming in the middle of a freezing lake. The very most they did was find an island to swim ashore on. They were probably too focused on keeping each other warm to even really talk."
Takato looked up, trying to visualize the situation that night. "It makes sense when you put it like that, Kenta. I guess the trauma hasn't gone away yet, though. I still can't remember the details..."
Kenta shrugged. "You two may deal with that trauma in different ways. Maybe Jenrya in particular just likes walling himself off until he can come to terms with that kind of thing. It seems cold, but... that's just how people operate sometimes."
"Maybe... it's just weird when he does it to me," Takato said. "Usually he doesn't hesitate to tell me anything. Now he's having a hard time even looking at me... and him ditching school... that can't be a good thing."
"Here's what I propose," Kenta stated. "Let me talk to Jenrya. However traumatized he may be still, he hasn't held back on talking with me or 'Kazu, so I'll ask him straight if anything's bothering him, or if there's anything you should know about what happened. At the very least, he'll give me some kind of answer."
Hirokazu looked amused. "You think he'll be honest with you, man?"
"He sooner would with me than you," Kenta argued, eying Hirokazu accusingly. "Because I won't blackmail him."
"Hey, extortion is effective in bringing out honesty in people! It just forces the truth out rather than asking for it politely!"
Takato cracked a small smile. "I appreciate your help, guys. The sooner we can get our lives back to normal, the better."
"No problem," said Kenta, as he smiled back. The smile was short-lived, as concern once again arose. "Are you sure you're okay, though? If that heart attack symptom happened today, it'll probably keep coming up at random until we figure out how to put an end to it..."
"I'll let you know when it's time to worry," Takato assured. "That's something else I'd really like off my mind, too... it's like everything just went to hell after the festival."
"Tell me about it," Hirokazu groaned. "With you and Jen sick, and Juri keeping her secrets, and Ruki and Jaarin being so mopey... life's been sucking a lot lately."
'Juri...' Takato recalled, as he once again felt that warm, fluttery feeling inside. Much as he didn't like to think about his trivial, hypothetical love pursuits, the issue troubled Takato nearly as much as every other pressing matter... especially considering the increasing likelihood of the situations being connected. "Sorry to worry you guys so much..."
"Don't worry about it," Kenta said, stifling a yawn as he took on a more relaxed position. Wearily, his right hand went back to his throbbing temples, and he shut his eyes in frustration. "Now that no one's in danger of dying, I can lay off those caffeine products. Pretty sure that's what's causing these headaches..."
"It's getting colder out," Hirokazu mentioned, pointing at the nearest window. "You sure something's not going around?"
"It's just a simple headache," Kenta mumbled. "Nothing else. If class really is called off, though, I may as well get a catnap in. Maybe that'll make it go away..." Slowly, Kenta's arms buckled under him and rested his head. His eyes weren't fully closed yet, but his eyelids were progressively feeling heavier.
"Party pooper," Hirokazu teased, before looking at Takato. "Guess it's just you and me for the rest of the period, then!"
"Guess so," Takato muttered, looking around nervously, as he desperately felt the need to get his other issue off his chest... but with Hirokazu? Honestly...?
Well… as Takato thought about it, he could actually see some logic in asking this particular friend. And after narrowly dodging death more than once, public humiliation didn't seem as threatening as it once did. Perhaps if he just worded it right…
"Hey, 'Kazu?" Takato asked. "Can I ask what it's like for you, being in love with two people at once? I mean… doesn't that get really, unnecessarily complicated after a while?"
Hirokazu frowned, apparently taking offense to the statement. "What, you want to scold me for being honest with my feelings, too? Like I don't already get enough of that from Kenta and Ruki and everyone else on the planet?"
"No, no!" Takato denied, hands shaking. "I'm just curious how you pull it off while… arguably… keeping your sanity! Haven't you ever… stopped to think about who you like more between Ruki and Ryo?"
"Pssh," Hirokazu huffed, rolling his eyes. "If I knew that, I'd focus all my attention on just one of them, wouldn't I? It'd kind of defeat the purpose of the love triangle if I knew who I really loved."
"Right, right…" Takato agreed, now a little embarrassed for asking such simplistic questions that were actually making him seem dimwitted compared to Hirokazu. "You handle it pretty well; all things considered… what's your secret?"
That line made Hirokazu raise an eyebrow; his curiosity officially piqued. "Since when did you get so interested in how I manage my love life, dude? I've pretty much given you all the advice I could about how to impress Juri, but you never listen to me about that because you think my advice is bogus for whatever reason. Now you think I'm the friggin' oracle of all things romance?"
"Well, uh…" Takato stalled, surprised at how quickly his normally slow friend picked up on the suspicious nature of his inquiries. "Out of all of us, you're the only one I know who loves two people at the same time! I know it's something that's looked down upon in society, and…"
"And?" Hirokazu asked. He bore a grin, which struck fear into the timid heart of his friend.
Color swiftly drained away from Takato's face. Perhaps he made a mistake after all… if Hirokazu had little more than poor advice on how to handle one crush, why would the case be any different for two?
"You know what? Forget I said anything," Takato said, in an attempt to brush the matter off entirely. He banked on the hope that Hirokazu's short attention span would work in his favor for once. "So, how about this weather, huh…?"
"For your own good, you'd better stop while you're ahead." It was Kenta.
Both Takato and Hirokazu whipped around to their weary, bespectacled acquaintance. Apparently, he was something of a light sleeper.
"Changed your mind on the catnap, I see?" Takato assumed, nervously grinning.
Kenta sat up and frowned; eyes were zeroed in on Takato only. And he seemed a little exasperated at Takato's pathetic attempts to change the subject already… "Think about it, Takato. Do you really want to find yourself in Hirokazu's shoes in any situation?"
Takato was taken aback by Kenta's directness. "You were listening to everything…? I-I mean…!" He knew it would be harder to lead Kenta astray… and having dug himself this deep already, it was likely impossible to do so. "I never said anything like that! I was just curious about how 'Kazu manages that kind of thing!"
"Oh, stop it," Kenta insisted. "Why would you suddenly show interest now if it still had no relevance to your life? 'Kazu's been in this kind of funk for quite a few months now."
Eye contact was very uncomfortable for Takato at this point. He weakly shrugged after turning his face away from Kenta. "I… I never really thought about it before until now. Once I sat down and thought about it…"
"Because it happened to you, right?"
Hirokazu looked straight at Takato after Kenta's succinct accusation. "No way. Seriously?!"
"What?!" Takato exclaimed in panic, eliciting some stares from the rest of the class. Wisely, a few beats of silence were implemented to ward away the unwarranted attention. Takato moved closer to Kenta, and chose to whisper the rest of the conversation, though still in an aggravated manner. "How do you figure that?!"
Kenta's expressions did not change; he maintained his sturdy, accusatory glare at Takato. "Admit it, Takato. You've always been horrible with keeping a secret. Every time you try, you keep walking right into situations where you're forced to spill it anyway. Stop wasting time by beating around the bush, already."
Being exposed so quickly and so flawlessly was… undeniably off-putting for Takato. He still struggled to find a civil response to his friend; his opinion clearly solidified. It was increasingly discouraging for him to even make his own defense now. "Kenta, what's your deal? I barely say two words, not even to you, and you talk like you figured me out or something! Can't I say anything without getting snubbed or interrogated these days?!"
Takato's unusually harsh words even surprised Hirokazu, who found himself bumping an inch or so away from him.
With this, Kenta sighed, and went back to his previous resting position. "Fine, Takato. If you don't want to talk, you don't have to. Just remember what I said. You're making a mistake, and if you don't quit while you're ahead, you're going to regret it."
Having no response, Takato merely frowned at Kenta as he prepared to resume his nap. However, at that moment, the bell sounded off, marking the end of the class period. Kenta buried his face under his arms and groaned as his surrounding classmates stood up to prepare migration to their next class.
The awkward trio packed their things in silence. Takato mentally cursed himself for his impromptu idea, realizing that perhaps, he wasn't ready to spread his horrible secrets to the world yet.
In a single file line, they made their way towards the classroom exit. After Kenta separated the group down the hallway, Hirokazu, who was behind Takato, gently grabbed his shoulder before he cut away as well.
Takato froze, looking none too comfortable as Hirokazu dragged him back a bit so they could talk face to face. 'How is it he always picks the worst times to put his two cents in?' Takato wondered. He fully dreaded what he was about to hear, but thankfully, it came out a lot softer than Kenta's spiel.
"You sure you're okay, man?"
Takato blinked. "Huh…? Uh, yeah… I guess." He looked flabbergasted.'That's all he wanted to ask…? Seriously?'
Hirokazu wasn't wholly convinced, but he smiled anyway. "Good; that's all I wanted to know. You take care, alright? I'll see you later." And with that, Hirokazu made his way to his next class.
"Thanks…" Takato said, a little too late, for Hirokazu had already left by the time the words left his mouth. "Maybe someday… I'll be ready to accept your help. Maybe even Kenta's…" He sighed and looked away. "It's too soon, I guess. I've got to let it… sink in some more," Takato figured. He looked down, and his subtle smile became a frown. "And I need to find out what's going on with him… that's… that's more important than anything right now."
The room of his next class was well within sight. Takato sighed, knowing that… normally… this was the class he shared with Jenrya.
As he walked to his last class of the day, some unfounded optimism of his held some hope that, perhaps, he'd be in there after all…
Perhaps it's not as bad as it seemed… and maybe, just maybe, some of the things that went on earlier in the morning were just part of some kind of hallucination.
It was hard, but Takato pressed on, working with what little positivity he had left in this situation. But realistically, he knew things would only get harder from here.
( POV – Nobody)
Of course, Jenrya wasn't at his last period class. He had spent much of the day walking through town with the same vacant expression on his face he had when he left school early in the morning.
But eventually, there was some sense in Jenrya's walking patterns, as he eventually found his way back to his home. Even in his mind, Jenrya seemed frozen in time; his body seemed to move of its own accord, as if he were possessed. His consciousness faded into black just after the dark slime enveloped him in the school hallways.
Despite Jenrya's lack of influence and common sense, his body seemed to be able to climb stairs, operate an elevator, and open doors as per usual. With no hesitation, he entered his apartment complex and headed straight for his room. Jenrya walked across a mostly empty living room; his mother, Mayumi, normally stayed at home, but just so happened to be taking a shower at this time.
Lopmon also usually remained at the complex, as her presence proved to be too much of a distraction for Shuichon at school. However, she just so happened to be in her Tamer's room when Jenrya came home early; therefore, she did not notice him.
Who did notice was none other than Jenrya's own Digimon: Terriermon. In a rare instance, Terriermon lounged on one of the couches, reading a book. After looking at the nearest clock, Terriermon knew it was too early for anyone to be returning home. He set the book aside and stood up, studying Jenrya with confusion before making with the questioning.
"Hey, Jen…! What's wrong, did you have a relapse…?"
Jenrya didn't reply, or even acknowledge his partner. He made it to his destination, and closed his door behind him before Terriermon could shout anything else at him. Terriermon didn't bother running after him, at this point.
He was learning from Jenrya's behavior… and he knew, more likely than not, that door was locked. The game of patience had been a game played many times in the household since the festival incident, and Terriermon was getting better at it with every round.
Terriermon frowned and shrugged off the matter. Just because he had to play the waiting game with Jenrya didn't mean he couldn't tattle on him to his mother the second she got out of the shower.
After shutting the door and locking it, like a light switch, Jenrya's eyes snapped wide open as he found himself back in reality.
"W-what…?" He wondered out loud, looking around and quickly recognizing where he was. "Why am I here all of a sudden…?"
He looked to the clock on his desk stand and promptly freaked. "D-did I just miss all of school today?!"
"Please. Believe it or not, that's the least of your worries."
Jenrya snapped and rapidly searched for the source of that dreaded voice in every nook and cranny of his room. "I should've known it was you…! What nerve… show yourself, already!"
He got his wish, but Jenrya quickly wished he hadn't done so. It was shocking to see his mysterious, anonymous company take on such a human form. It still lacked detail such as facial features, of course, but the outlines were very precise; it didn't look like a disfigured mass of fog anymore. Now, it could easily pass for someone's shadow…
Jenrya studied the changes in his guest before uttering out his full reaction. "Looks like you've been busy since I last saw you... what exactly is your plan?"
"Plan?"the shadow echoed. "I've just been waiting for you to become available. I have some pretty effective tricks, don't I?"
"It's bad enough you're killing my social life," Jenrya complained. He already felt like throwing a punch at this guy, even though he knew it wouldn't make a bit of difference whether he did it or not. "I can do without you killing my grade point average, if that isn't too much to ask."
"I'll try not to make a habit of that," the stranger nonchalantly promised. "But don't worry about your standing; you'll bounce back soon enough."
"Whatever; what do you want from me now?" Jenrya asked, impatiently so. "Judging from your changes, it looks like you want to try out being a human, but why you would want to and how I could help with that? I have no idea whatsoever. Even if I can help, what's it going to take for you to leave indefinitely?"
The mockery of the human shadow stifled a laugh. "Believe me; I didn't bring you here for the same reasons as before. I've gotten all the information I need out of you to carry out my plan." As he spoke, the detail on him slowly began to refine itself, until his form started to look... frighteningly familiar. "This visit is the final touch."
"Final touch...?" Jenrya said, confused at first, but then trailed off upon realizing his opponent's evolving form happening even at this point. A face was almost showing. The shadow had the same build and height as his own. What would presumably be hair if he were a real person was strikingly similar to his own.
But 'similar' was a vast understatement at this stage of the development.
He was now an identical, perfect shadow of Jenrya Lee.
When that had sunk in, Jenrya found himself backing up against the door he locked. "W-what's this?! What are you?! What do you think you're doing?!"
His doppelganger made its first true smile. "You speak of me as if I was some sort of invader. The thing is, Jenrya Lee, it's the opposite. I've been living inside you all your life. The events of the festival manifested into such a potent negative energy that I was finally able to become my own sentient being. But don't mistaken yourself; you're no more Jenrya Lee than I am myself, and vice-versa."
"Impossible...!" Jenrya spat, now terrified at what he was witnessing. "You're nothing like me at all! How could something like you just live inside me for all these years?! You're lying!"
"I didn't expect you to accept such a thing with open arms," the figure mused. "In fact, that goes right along with what I said about you earlier... regarding how you tend to handle the truth when it's given to you." He inched closer to Jenrya, who was too paralyzed with fear to think to open the door and escape.
"I-it doesn't make any sense..." Jenrya mumbled nervously, desperately trying to make sense of his situation. "How could something like you live inside of me...? If you are me, why do you insist on doing this to yourself?!"
Face to face, the gap between the two narrowed considerably. With Jenrya scrunched up against his door, the shadow version of him seemed to tower over his counterpart.
"I may be a part of you," his double explained. "But that doesn't mean I have the same thoughts, feelings, and opinions as you do. Didn't you hear me? I was brought to life because of your negative feelings; your unwillingness to confront yourself about what happened to you at the festival, and your ridiculous self-loathing in regards to how you deal with your family, friends, and everyone else in this world! I am essentially the embodiment of all your mistakes, flaws, and sins."
It scared Jenrya to hear such strong words projected at him, by something that looked so much like his clone. And now, upon thinking about it... the voice wasn't wholly dissimilar to how his own sounded, either. Surprising how that obvious detail didn't become obvious until now, after so many confrontations...
His mind snapped eventually, which set his hand off to find the doorknob. But in all of his panic, he had forgotten he locked the door. He fumbled to find the lock as he was against the door back first, but his eyes and general focus were taken up almost solely by his dark twin.
"Everything negative?! How can it even work like that?!" he asked, almost desperately. "That goes against all logic in this world! You can't be a natural occurrence; no way, no how!"
"Heh, well, you have a point," the shadow admitted. "In a sense, anyway. My existence is a rather interesting fluke, but as you are right now, why would I bother telling you?" He began to sound rather offended. "I meant no ill will against you at the beginning, despite my strong disagreements regarding how you've run your life. But you wouldn't even accept my introduction; you've been dead set against me since I've become my own entity."
"You said it yourself!" Jenrya pointed out. "You're a fluke! You'renot supposed to be here... why should I accept you?!"
The tone of his unwanted guest turned dark. "Because, like it or not, I am a part of you, and your intolerance towards yourself is the only thing that has sent you on the downward spiral in life. So, until we reach an understanding, I'm going to take matters into my own hands for the time being! Even if that renders you merely a part of me."
Jenrya well caught the nuance of what was said to him. He was cornered and too frantic to unlock himself out of his confinement, and too shaken to think of screaming for help. He tried so hard to access this problem and quietly solve it himself...
But tragically, he realized too late that things never worked out when he tried to put the weight of the world on his shoulders. He really did need his friends after all...
Like a gale wind off the Pacific coast, Jenrya's shadow blew right into Jenrya, triggering an instantaneous flash of a transformation. The Jenrya the world knew and loved found himself uncontrollably sleepy shortly afterwards, and with little to no resistance, he fell to his knees and passed out.
Moments later, he awakened and got back onto his feet as if nothing ever happened. But there was a change; shockingly, a physical one. Jenrya no longer donned his usual clothes... no more was his brown jacket, his blue shirt, or his green pants. He now had a rather intimidating full-body suit. It was black and skin-tight, with matching, imposing combat boots and a loose matching belt hanging around his waist. A complicated, matching vest completed the makeover... and save for a rather sinister smile, the rest of Jenrya remained virtually unchanged. The same eyes, the same hair, and the same face.
As if Jenrya himself just simply decided to try on a new look. A highly uncharacteristic one for him, but nonetheless...
Conveniently, there was a mirror nearby for the new Jenrya to utilize; to review his first true foray into the world. Turning once, looking over every angle, Jenrya smiled in approval of his choice and looked towards the door he had locked.
"I may need to do some shopping," he mused with delight. "The closet contents, as they stand, have always been something I direly wanted to rectify. Hm..."
Every inch of the room was plenty familiar to him; after all, despite the different Jenrya, the memories and general knowledge had always been shared between the two. He foresaw no problem fitting in, confident that, even if anyone else caught on to the change, that it would be too late to do anything about it. This new Jenrya had a powerful force in mystique on his side.
"We'll see how you like living my life, my dear antithesis," Jenrya said, mostly to himself, but knew anything he said could be heard by the familiar Jenrya deep within his consciousness. Much as he would surely protest, the true Jenrya was now completely powerless. "And pay attention to how the Anti-Jenrya beats you in your own game of living your life. No doubt, it'll be painful, but whatever gets you to learn..."
He walked to the door and unlocked it, but before opening it and heading out, the new Jenrya smirked as an amusing thought popped in his head. "All things considered, I am the Anti-Jenrya, aren't I? You can think of a nickname for me with that, can't you?"
He waited for a moment, knowing he'd get his counterpart's feedback soon enough. Like telepathy, it came silently, of course. The darker side of Jenrya chuckled as the idea formulated in his head.
"Antijen, hm... well, I suppose bad puns are consistent with who 'I' am," he admitted. "Antijen it is, then. But..." He turned the knob. "Just remember, for the time being, I am Jenrya Lee, and no one else."
Antijen opened the door and stepped out freshly into the world that was now his to walk upon. Excited to leave the complex and explore his world, he made a beeline for the front door, only to be intercepted by none other than his mother and his Digimon.
After a few moments of a standoff, Antijen blinked, feigning surprise. "Mom! What's... up?"
Mayumi peered at her child intently. The clothes took her off guard, but that was not the main point of her concern at present. "Would you tell me why you left school early?" At first, she seemed rather indignant, but quickly softened when she remembered how moody and sensitive Jenrya had been lately. She knew it was best to tread lightly if she was going to get anything out of her troubled son.
"If you started to feel bad again, that's okay," she assured. "But you shouldn't have walked home by yourself if that's the case... you know I'm always available to pick you up whenever you need a ride."
After processing that information, Antijen shrugged. "Whatever it was, I'm over it now. I feel a lot better, actually, so I think I'll head out again..." Realizing how suspicious this sounded, he amended with "... to meet up with my friends so they can tell me what I missed for class today!"
If Mayumi wasn't going to ask, Terriermon saw no choice but to go there himself. "What's with the Mission Impossible gear, Jen? I think you missed the boat on Halloween – ooh, bad pun," he noted as he caught that. "You definitely weren't wearin' that when you came in just a second ago!"
Antijen sighed, thinking perhaps the garish outfit wasn't the best to start out with. "What, is it a crime to suddenly have good taste in clothes?"
Mayumi was taken aback by that statement; it was definitely something she never thought she'd hear her practical, intellectual son say. "I suppose it's important if you want to look your best... but it seems rather..."
"Punk-ish," Terriermon finished for her. "And maybe it's just me, Jen, but I gotta be frank with you, being your partner and all: you'll never be kickin' it on the West Side with your homies, G. Seriously, the universe would just explode if you ever pulled that off. So please, as your friend, I'm beggin' ya not to destroy the universe, alright?!"
That spiel brought about stares from Antijen and Mayumi.
"... and that spandex makes you look gay," Terriermon added, in his unique way of trying to save face.
After a few more seconds of staring, Antijen just looked back to his 'mother'. "Anyway... I'll see about being back before dinner time. If you need me, give me a call."
Mayumi was a little stunned to see her son take charge in a conversation so effortlessly. She found herself just mindlessly nodding to everything he said... "Right, of course, dear. Just don't stay out too late... I'll be making something nice for you."
"Good, good. I'll see you later, then," he said with a wave, about to open the front door until Terriermon came between him and the exit. Antijen looked down and frowned, but being part of the real Jenrya taught him how hard it could be at times to shake off Terriermon once he got the indication that his partner was not well. "What do you want?" he asked, tiredly.
"I was stuck at home all day, as if you didn't notice!" Terriermon exclaimed. "Now you're trying to leave without me, huh? Not happening, buddy." He jumped onto Antijen's back and clung to him like a burr. "Onward, my mighty steed!" the tiny Digimon commanded, followed by a brief cackle.
Antijen looked heavily annoyed, but ultimately, ignored Terriermon's insanity as he looked to his mother again. "Have you checked the kitchen lately? It sounds like he raided the pantry and consumed all of the sugar again."
Mayumi blinked, and suddenly looked worried. She looked towards the kitchen… "Oh dear, I forgot to put the lock on… I suspect there's a mess in there," the weary woman said with a sigh. She gave Terriermon a rather disgruntled look.
"Hey, ease up!" Terriermon said, holding his paws up in defense. "Fool you once, shame on me… fool you twice, shame on you, Jen's mom."
Mayumi groaned and rubbed her temples. "Jenrya, if you would, please just get him out of here for a few hours…"
Antijen frowned. "I guess that was an order," he assumed, looking to Terriermon. "Geez… where did I go wrong with you?"
"You've got it mixed up," Terriermon shot back. "I make you look good."
"In some screwy alternate dimension, maybe…" Antijen replied, again heading for the front door. "See you later, mom."
"Goodbye, dear… be careful."
"I will."
The door shut. So effortlessly, Mayumi's son slipped out of her fingers once more.
Mayumi sat down on the couch to reflect on that conversation she held. It was the most talkative her son had been since the festival started, and he definitely seemed to act more like his old self…
… So why did she still feel so troubled?
Lopmon was passing by, making her way to the kitchen until she noticed Mayumi, sullen and sinking further into the couch's cushions. Concerned, she quietly tiptoed towards the mother of her Tamer.
"Miss Mayumi…?" she called out, meekly. "Is everything alright?"
Mayumi was brought back to reality through that small voice. "Oh…! Lopmon… y-yes, everything is fine."
Lopmon wasn't convinced. "Is Jenrya still giving you trouble? I'd figure he ought to be back to normal by now… enough time has passed…"
"Not necessarily trouble," Mayumi admitted. "He… he's actually talking to me now. He's not really displaying any anger… for the most part, he's respectful again…"
"It sounds like he's recovered," Lopmon noted, trying to be positive. "But still… you seem unsatisfied with something. Would you like to talk about it?"
Mayumi gave the little Digimon a sad smile as she picked Lopmon up and set her on her lap. She looked onward, towards the front door her son had just left through, absent-absentmindedly stroking Lopmon's ears…
"To be honest, I'm not sure what to say," Mayumi said. "Something about him is still off... it doesn't feel genuine for some reason. It's strange, but his odd behavior before seemed somewhat... familiar to me. I can't quite put my finger on it, however..."
Lopmon frowned. "I see; so even though he appears to have recovered, you think there's still something wrong with him. But with an improved attitude..."
"He'll mask it better, yes," Mayumi agreed. "And it's strange... he had a rather interesting outfit on, and it's one I don't recall ever purchasing for him. I almost wonder if he's..."
"Fallen in with the wrong crowd?" Lopmon asked. Mayumi nodded to her in return. Lopmon leaned her chin against her paw and pondered this. "If Terriermon keeps an eye on him, we can probably prove or disprove that rumor rather quickly. I have to ask, though... what was it about his behavior that got your attention? What did it remind you of, exactly?"
Mayumi remained silent for a while upon having that question thrown at her. She didn't look comfortable at all with the idea of getting into it. In all honesty, her memories of many years ago were like some chaotic blur in her head; as if she retained her memories, but something in her mind unconsciously blocked it out.
Dismissively, she shook her head. "I suppose I worded it wrong. I meant to say that it's a mother's intuition that tells me whether or not my son is alright. Even if he pretends he's all better, I'll still know the truth, because I am his mother."
"That seems so... simple," Lopmon commented, considering that theory. "Then again, as a Digimon, I suppose I still don't understand the more complex aspects of family life." She smiled, sheepishly. "I'm only barely managing to memorize the basics as it is..."
"Believe me, between you and Terriermon, you are easily the most well-behaved, and you've blended in very well with our family, Lopmon," Mayumi assured, petting her. "Don't hesitate to come to me if you have any questions, though, alright?"
Lopmon nodded. "You're a wise woman, Miss Mayumi. I think I could learn a lot from you."
"That's good..." Mayumi said quietly, sliding slightly sideways as she was completely absorbed into the couch cushions. Without thinking of it, she drew Lopmon into a hug. This was not the type of hug Lopmon was accustomed to; that being the Full Nelson death grip that Shuichon constantly inflicted. This was a loose and gentle hug, with just the right amount of warmth and affection that created a balance Shuichon had not yet come upon.
Lopmon was relieved at how pleasant the hug was, but she quickly realized it was Mayumi doing the hugging, when she never did so to Lopmon before. It was strange... but Lopmon seemed to notice that Mayumi was off in her own little world as she held the petite Digimon against her chest.
"We'll make it right, someday..." Mayumi whispered; hopeful, yet weary. "I refuse to lose anyone else..."
That struck Lopmon like a wayward bolt of lightning. She gasped and looked to Mayumi, who was still in her self-induced trance. Lopmon didn't have the heart to break the moment, but the rather bold clue she let out seemed to open up a new realm of possibilities... Lopmon couldn't stop hypothesizing now.
But before she made any concrete logical connections, Mayumi snapped out of her daze and let go of Lopmon. "Oh...! I'm so sorry, Lopmon; I don't know what got into me. That wasn't appropriate at all..." She moved Lopmon onto the couch as she stood up, avidly looking around for some kind of chore to do.
"Well...!" she announced. "I believe dinner still needs to be made!" Mayumi marched right over to the kitchen area and started pulling out random ingredients. Briefly, she paused. "Lopmon, if you'd like to help out, you're more than welcome to."
Lopmon was too busy staring at her Tamer's mother for the first few seconds, but after a stutter or two, she responded. "Y-yes...! Of course, I wouldn't mind giving you a hand at all..."
She leaped off the couch and approached the kitchen area, where she climbed up to the counter. Mayumi and Lopmon proceeded to prepare their dinner, hoping something special might lighten up the mood, currently filled with very cautious optimism.
To be carefree seemed like a dream simply out of reach for the moment.
( POV – Nobody )
Ever the martyr, Kenta decided to sacrifice playtime today for the sake of studying. His last few homework results had been dented a bit due to Kenta's lack of focus... of course, this was only because of what had happened to his dear friends.
Though the emotional disputes were still not resolved, the health issues were more or less a thing of the past, outside of Takato's random pseudo-heart attacks. That was still a cause for concern, but when it came to Takato, Kenta knew he was in for a world of pain. All Kenta wanted to do was spare Takato from that, after all he'd been through already.
It was a pain to keep up with everyone's issues, Kenta knew. Hirokazu foolishly in love with two people, Ruki effectively trapped in an endless pit of guilt, Juri being uncharacteristically secretive all of a sudden, Jenrya having severe attitude problems... and now, not only was Takato still in physical danger, he too was following Hirokazu's path by falling in love with Juri and one other person at the same time.
The sad part being, Kenta knew if everyone just calmed down and talked about their problems sensibly, they could be very easily resolved; within the day, even.
Takato's heart problems aside, it was the love issue that buggered Kenta the most. Mainly, this was because Kenta had lived it already. He knew what it was like to be in love, to express those feelings to that special someone, and to try a relationship, only to crash and burn horribly.
Kenta sighed and recalled that time about a year ago when it all started. He was still in his shell back then, basically viewing Hirokazu as God. It wasn't until they dated that Kenta became painfully aware of Hirokazu's many flaws, and it was then he realized how much Hirokazu's influence held him back. Kenta was never seen as much more than Hirokazu's lackey back in the day. Hirokazu's boisterous personality completely overshadowed Kenta in anything he did...
It wasn't until Kenta learned to act on his own that things changed. When he realized he was his own person, with his own unique talents and abilities and his own way of seeing the world, Kenta found a power within him he didn't even realize, not even when he became MarineAngemon's Tamer.
He asserted himself; he broke up with Hirokazu of his own accord, and began to take charge of his life. He worked his way up to become a respected member of his community, and his efforts rewarded him a top-tier spot in the student rankings, very close to resident genius Jenrya's level. People remember his real name these days, rather than just referring to him as 'Hirokazu's Lackey'. Fellow students ask him for help and advice rather than his hyperactive acquaintance, whom, despite everything, Kenta is still good friends with.
Kenta only wished Hirokazu learned as much as he did from their ill-fated relationship.
That Hirokazu did not learn from it, and now that Takato was bound to fall into the same pit Kenta once found himself in... direly, the boy in glasses wanted to stop these problems before they really got off the ground. Relationships were chaotic enough with just two people.
But with three?
Kenta didn't want to think about it. It made him sick to picture the screwy results in his head. He adamantly believed there were more important things to be worked on... but he wondered if, perhaps, he focused so much on gaining respect from his common fellow students that he forgot to take the time to impress his circle.
Perhaps the views on him by certain people were a little outdated...?
It was precisely things like this that made Kenta's head hurt. He was not home yet; Kenta just walked across town at a brisk pace, with his eyes glued to his feet blazing across the pavement.
While trekking downtown, Kenta eventually came up to a large variety of shops. Very basic Mom-n-Pop shops, but places of business nonetheless. Kenta looked up when he passed a drug store, thinking perhaps a little ibuprofen would soothe his frequent headaches.
Kenta paused and considered it, before finally going ahead and approaching the store. However, dazed as he was, he failed to pay attention to the now-sideways traffic coming at him, and he crashed into a fellow pedestrian just before he made any further progress.
Being taken off guard like that, the impact was strong enough to fling Kenta right against the sidewalk.
"Ow...!" Kenta groaned, as he knew this would only make his headache worse. Thankfully, he landed on his back (and consequently, his padded backpack) and avoided hitting his head, but it was still a rough fall. It was enough to jolt Kenta's glasses right off his face; they clacked and clanged some distance out in front of him.
"Oh, man..." Kenta complained, still disoriented. Too startled to stand, he helplessly got on his knees and started crawling forward across the sidewalk to find his glasses. But, Kenta was rendered with rather bad vision since he was little, and he wound up being near-sighted, meaning he had a hard time seeing things from a distance.
He only prayed he could get to his glasses before someone stepped on them...
But instead, a large, blurry figure of someone wearing black came by, close to Kenta, and extended a hand forward to him. Briefly dumbfounded by this randomly-appearing stranger, Kenta silently took his hand and was pulled up to his feet.
"Th-thanks," Kenta uttered, trying to catch his breath. "I appreciate it, uh..." he squinted, trying to get a better look at his helper. "Sir? Ma'am?"
There was chuckling at the other end; masculine. But it sounded familiar...
"It's just me, Kenta," he said, offering him something. Upon scrutinizing, Kenta realized it was his glasses. He quickly took them and put them on, making the world clear again.
His helper turned out to be none other than Jenrya Lee. Well, Antijen as Jenrya Lee; close enough.
"Jen...?" Kenta gasped, surprised to have encountered him already.
Antijen nodded. "In the flesh. That was me you ran into, by the way. You've got to pay attention, you know?"
"N-never mind that!" Kenta sputtered. "Why weren't you at school today?!"
Antijen shrugged. "Had a minor relapse; I was starting to feel sick again, basically. I assume the accident has made me more vulnerable to the weather changes, which have been coming quite rapidly this year..."
Kenta shook his head, not believing a word. "That's not what Takato said. Apparently he was the last one who saw you this morning..."
Takato. Him...
Antijen's eyes narrowed. "Since when do you take Takato's word as gospel, Kenta?" he inquired.
"I don't," Kenta replied, looking a little offended. "But he sounded pretty honest when he was about to cry and everything. The way you're talking, it sounds like something definitely happened between you two..."
This only made Antijen's blood boil, but he was only subtly showing his growing anger.
"Look, you can trust me to keep any secret of yours safe," Kenta assured, a bit more softly. "I volunteered to be the middle man so we can work out these problems easily, so we can get back to our lives, you know? Not only that, but whatever's bothering you is making your grades slip, Jen... and I just can't stand by and let you sabotage something you worked so hard and so long to build up!"
"I appreciate your concern, but my deal with Takato involves only me and him; nobody else, alright?" Antijen advised in a low, but patient voice. "I will accept your help in getting me caught up with school, however. In that respect, I can't think of a better man for the job."
"What use will that be if we don't resolve your personal problems first?" Kenta asked in desperation. "That's why you've been faltering in the first place. We need to get to the source of your problem and take care of it! You need to talk to Takato, Jen. As soon as possible. I'm afraid he's going to fall apart too if you don't..."
Antijen sighed and looked up at the sky. "You just don't get it, do you?"
"I have a feeling it's more like something you don't get," Kenta remarked. Then he blinked, just now noticing the drastic visual change in Jenrya. "W-wait, where in the world did you get those clothes from...? I never pictured you wearing anything like that..."
The antagonistic version of Jenrya looked back down at Kenta. "I thought it was time for a little change, that's all."
"In more ways than one, apparently," Kenta commented, appearing not to approve of this new style. "The Jenrya I know would never want to torment Takato like this by keeping his distance on purpose."
"Why do you have to word it like that?" Antijen asked him. "You're making me out to be a villain for no reason whatsoever."
"Because it's obvious you're not planning to do anything about your current situation!" Kenta accused, pointing at him. "Are you really just going to drop Takato like that? Like your friendship never existed at all?"
Antijen sighed, now seeming like he had the headache. "Please don't talk about things you don't understand."
"That's just it, though!" Kenta interjected as he balled his hands up into fists. "I understand exactly what's going on!" Unbeknownst to him, an extremely subtle glow of violet-hued light began to cover Kenta as he continued his tirade. Antijen was quick to notice this, and his facial expression grew sour.
'It can't be...' Antijen thought. 'Already... he's becoming aware of his power...'
"Maybe we don't know what really happened on the lake during festival night, but I'm pretty sure I know it was then that a lot of this crap started up!" Kenta exclaimed. "I didn't want to believe it; it seemed so obvious, but so improbable... but seeing the way you two act around each other now, I can't see how it's anything but."
A slightly intenser light emanated directly from Kenta's forehead. It too was colored purple, and it was still lost on Kenta what was going on (though several passerbys were quick to maneuver around this argumentative pair, and some moved along even faster when they noticed Kenta glowing).
Once again, Kenta brought out his accusing index finger. His head was throbbing in pain out of control at this point, but he was too riled up in his wild discoveries to even pay attention to his ailing condition anymore.
"It's you," Kenta said lowly to Antijen. "He... he fell in love with you."
Antijen didn't seem to be paying attention to Kenta's allegations, however. He was far more interested with what was going on with Kenta's forehead; the brighter light had formed into a very peculiar shape. Eventually, the light on his forehead subsided (though the general glow covering Kenta's body still remained), leaving a distinct symbol emblazoned upon him.
Lined in royal purple, the symbol was two circles connected together by a single line.
"You knew it all this time... and you've been stringing him along for two whole weeks! How could you?!"
It didn't take long for Antijen to recognize this mark, and upon doing so, his face twisted into something truly wretched and angry. Kenta stopped talking after noticing that Antijen's expressions had taken a turn for the worst. Ironically, while still not noticing his own changes, he was becoming very aware of Antijen's changes, as he began to glow with a particularly dark aura.
"When did you get so smart, huh?" Antijen said with a short laugh. His head was bowed down, so his face was hidden. By this point, the vicinity had been cleared; people in Shinjuku were pretty good about learning to run when wild special effects came about.
"A year ago you were a nobody... a crony... a puppet, essentially," he continued. "Look at you now... thinking you can solve everyone's problems just because you had a handful of your own. The world doesn't work that way, Kenta. You should be wise enough to know that, at least!"
"W-what are you talking about...?" Kenta asked meekly. "W-what's happening to you, Jen?!"
Antijen looked up to face Kenta, and grinned. The sinister look make Kenta nearly jump. "Didn't think I'd end up using my powers here so early on... but I guess it's necessary when you've got a know-it-all pest stalking you and ruining your fun. Don't you worry, Kenta. It won't kill you... and best of all, you won't even remember it!"
Kenta stepped back, thinking perhaps it wasn't wise to hang around the area anymore. "I get it now..." he muttered. "You're not him... you're not Jenrya at all..."
"Shows how much you know," Antijen taunted with a laugh, as he raised his right hand, pointing towards his target. A stronger layer of darkness covered his hand as he seemed to be charging some kind of attack. "Oh, Kenta... you should've known better to come out attacking me with such a personal topic. How rude. So let me teach you something about manners!"
A frigid gust of air blew upwards at Kenta, and just as he had the notion to move out of the way, he found his feet stuck to the pavement. In an instant, a spiraled twister of black energy shot up straight from the block of cement Kenta was bound to, engulfing him in a storm of twilight obscurity.
It was fierce, but brief. Kenta's screams were muffled by the loud howl of wind perpetuated by the mini-cyclone... but after ten to twenty seconds or so, the twister subsided.
Kenta, however, looked like a wreck. His aura had vanished. The symbol on his forehead remained, but it was now lined with black rather than purple. His glasses had been flung off his face in the storm, rendering Kenta legally blind once more. Devastated from the attack, Kenta choked out a few desperate sounds, seeing only an extremely blurred view of this wicked Jenrya clone before giving in to his fatigue, and falling flat against the pavement, completely unconscious.
"Hmph," Antijen grunted, not giving Kenta more than a few seconds' worth of a look over before turning and walking away. "Not even remotely a challenge... surprising as it is that he's realized his inner strength already. Though, thanks to me... he's been set back a bit. So he'll simply have to do all of that over-analyzing over again." He chuckled to himself.
He looked around the town. While the general vicinity was cleared, Antijen knew there were people in hiding nearby, just waiting for the right time to call the police. After clearing his throat, Antijen stood still and focused his energy...
He shut his eyes just as a blinding white flash covered much of the area; as far as the eye could see. Once it faded and things looked normal again, Antijen re-opened his eyes and smirked, knowing full well what he did.
Memory Erase.
Like Kenta, the citizens of Shinjuku who happened to witness any part of the event that just passed would no longer recall it.
"Great way to cover my ass," Antijen noted with a grin. He gave one final look back to Kenta, who was still out cold. "Don't worry," he assured his unconscious friend. "I'm sure someone will notice you eventually and get you to a doctor before you die. ... Maybe."
"NO!! Why are you doing this?! I can't believe you!! I can't let you leave Kenta there to die! Help him!!"
Antijen frowned; the true Jenrya within him had been protesting his recent actions since the very beginning, but the dominant Jen was always able to block it out until now. Somehow, Jenrya's overwhelming concern was finally strong enough to break through the barrier. Not that it mattered in the long run, Antijen knew. Jenrya still had no power of his own to escape and reclaim his body... he only had the power to annoy his dominant counterpart for the time being.
"Ugh, stupid conscience," Antijen muttered. "Honestly, why should I? He just made extremely wild accusations about you and your dear Takato."
There was a slight pause, but Jenrya would not remain silent for long. "You can't hurt people just because they antagonize you! How in the world are you anything like me if you can't even understand that?!"
"You forget your past so easily," Antijen noted vaguely. "I am you, with perspective, Jenrya. I wouldn't be very interesting if I was exactly like you down to every detail, don't you think? Come to think of it, if that were the case... I'd never feel the need to take charge of your body, now would I?"
Jenrya wanted to say so much more to his wayward twin, but he remembered there were more important things to tend to now. He knew at this point he had no hope of escaping... but if he could convince Antijen to get Kenta taken care of, he'd at least be satisfied then... "We'll discuss it later. There's more important things to do right now! Now call the hospital...!"
Hands tied; Antijen sighed. Even he, himself, did not want Kenta to die... yet. "Touché, my inferior double. I'll go ahead and do that, then."
Owing up to his word, Antijen went to the nearest pay phone and called the hospital, citing the emergency situation. He smirked as he hung up, for Antijen did not plan to stick around for the arrival of the ambulance.
As casually as one who caused such chaos could, Antijen walked back the way he came, past Kenta. He gave him one good sneer after walking by him. "Let's see you try to nail me again, you loser. I'll win every time; I promise," he taunted to the still-unconscious Kenta.
Satisfied with his work, Antijen chose another direction to explore the world he'd always gotten to see but never was able to experience in his own right.
If the future results would end peacefully and normally like Antijen's first interaction with his mother and Digimon, or explosively like his first time talking to Kenta, who knew?
Anti-Jenrya had his own set of moral boundaries, clearly. But he had the power to get away with his freedom, even if it would be the wrong thing to do.
Whatever came of this would surely be nothing worth keeping around; that, as much, was certain.
( POV – Takato )
Why did I even bother hoping he'd be there? Oh well... c'mon, Takato. Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Don't bog yourself down so low on your first day back! I've got two tons of homework doing that job well enough already!
Happy thoughts... positive... nice...!
Ugh... couldn't believe it was already November. I missed half of October, a month I actually like, and the first day I come back, it's all dreary and gray outside; typical November characteristics. A small thought in my head entertained the idea of celebrating my full recovery (or about as full as it's gonna get at this point...), but really, when I thought about it... with all of this drama going on, what else is there to celebrate?
After the festival, the group became pretty... disjointed, honestly. Going by Kenta and 'Kazu's updates, it sounded like the only time everybody got together was when they were coming to check up on me. And even then, it wasn't even everybody because Jen was never with them...
But boy, did I feel that tension today. I should've known better than to go about babbling about my stupid problems, even if I was trying to mask it by being... hypothetical with my questions. I should've remembered, though, that Kenta's awfully good at reading people's expressions. People were telling me after we first got home from the Digital World, that Kenta was the first one who figured out who Gallantmon really was. How he figured it out, I still have no idea, but... I guess for the same reason, that's why Kenta can understand MarineAngemon, even if the little guy can only speak about five words total, and they're not even real words to begin with...
Kenta really has flourished since our adventures. I felt like a moron about forgetting him when it came to the love advice. Even if Kenta's never been in love with two people, anyone, at least he'd been there, done it, and taken pictures to boot. Especially after all that jazz, Kenta's been way more level-headed than 'Kazu. I should've asked him directly instead.
Getting everybody together for a celebration just didn't seem like a good idea right now. Everyone's too pissed at everyone for a party to be worth the effort. Even poor Juri wasn't much in the mood to talk today... that in particular worried me more than the other issues. Juri's always been the one to brighten up our days... even if it seemed hopeless, she at least would put on a little show with her puppet as a desperation move. That method works works pretty well, actually. We magically forget our animosity towards each other after a few minutes of Juri acting nutty with that... that puppet.
Come to think of it... I couldn't remember the last time I actually walked home from school by myself. Hirokazu kinda wandered off in another direction for some reason today... last I saw of him, he was heading right for an area where I believe a lot of reconstruction is taking place in the historic downtown area.
I'd be surprised if he came in tomorrow injury-free. Even I couldn't deny the obvious; 'Kazu is... well... 'challenged'. Just because I can't deny it doesn't mean I can't sugarcoat it!
I didn't expect Kenta to walk with me after our little bout of tension earlier today. He shuffled out of school pretty quickly, so I imagined he was already home...
Juri completely vanished from sight the second I took my eyes off her. I... I really hoped she was okay. All of us falling apart at once was taxing enough on my emotional durability. It'd just... it'd kill me to see Juri going through a hard time again, especially one she feels she can't seek our help for.
She invests a lot of time in picking the rest of us up when we're down, so I figured it's practically mandatory to return the favor when she winds up being the one in need. And I'll be first in line to make her feel better.
I just wished I knew where she was right now...
"He's bad. Very bad. Good riddance!"
"That's not very nice, you know... even if he's been so rude, we shouldn't put ourselves on his level."
N-no way... was it really as easy as just walking by the park?!
Sure enough, there she was. Juri Katou, sitting on the swings and conversing with her companion of manufactured felt. Nobody else was around...
"He's not as cute as Ta-Ka-To, my dear! You need to set your aims a little higher; if you can't bag a rich one, at least bag a hottie! Though, he is from a well-off family... hmm... you may be on to something after all..."
"W-what?!" Juri exclaimed in a choked gasp. "Just what are you insinuating?!"
"You're The Bachelorette, Juri! Vote 'em all off the island! Dig deeper for the real gold!"her rabid-looking Puppet proclaimed, as if it were on the pedestal... wow, sometimes I even scare myself with my own wacky descriptions and analogies.
Luckily, Juri wasn't buying it. "Take that back! I'm nothing like that at all! I need to start putting you away when I watch TV from now on..."
Into a furnace, I hoped. ... Why the heck was I eavesdropping like some Peeping Tom, anyway? Seriously, I've matured better than this...
"Hey, Juri!" I shouted out to her, waving and running over to her without a second thought. "Fancy seeing you here, huh?!"
"T-Takato...!" Juri leaped out of her swing in surprise. Whoops... didn't mean to scare her.
Upon realizing I could give someone a heart attack one day with that kind of approach, I scratched my head and nodded in apology. "S-sorry about that, I didn't mean to startle you... I was just wondering what you were still doing outside; that's all. It looks like it's going to rain..." Honestly, I didn't really want to ask about what on Earth the Puppet was rambling on about before I got here.
"Oh... I suppose it is," she said, looking up at the sky as if she didn't realize it before. Hm... she must be pretty preoccupied with something. "I was just... trying to cheer myself up, that's all..." Juri didn't look like she wanted to admit that, but it was relieving to know she was still honest with me.
To her, I nodded in agreement. "I think we're all dealing with some kind of conflict... I can't even remember the last time we all went our separate ways after school, can you?"
Juri didn't seem to have thought about that before. I think it made her even more depressed to realize the truth to my observation. ... dah, I was trying to make her feel better, not worse...
"You're right," she said, sounding ashamed. Aw, man... "I'm sorry, Takato. I guess I've been a little... under the weather myself."
My expressions softened at this. Kenta was right; there was really no point to me beating around the bush all the time. It felt like I was just rubbing salt in the wound, here. "What's wrong, Juri...?" I asked her quietly.
At least Juri smiled at that, but she took her time to come up with a reply, and started with shaking her head. "Oh, Takato... honestly, if I knew everything, I would tell you. Then again..." The smile faded. "I'm not even supposed to."
"Notsupposed to?" I repeated, not liking the sound of that one bit. Who could possibly...? "W-what's really going on? Is that why you haven't been hanging out with us?"
"I suppose, at least to keep my mouth shut," Juri admitted, but she was progressively looking more worried by the second. "Though I guess that was a pointless precautionary measure, seeing as he's distanced himself anyway..."
...really didn't like the sound of this!
In the end, though, Juri shook her head. Apparently she had no intention of spilling everything to me so easily. "Can you guys maybe... wait a while longer, while I sort it out myself? I'm still trying to comprehend it all, and confusing you all over the matter won't do any good... and it'll probably split us further apart."
More than anything, I hated this. This whole... situation. If it's gotten to the point where Juri's afraid to even talk to us... then our communication issues were a lot more serious than I originally thought them to be.
"Cleeeek!"
Just then, Juri and I were taken by surprise by a sudden flash of light. We looked around, and saw nobody, but Juri was quick to gasp in surprise when she decided to look above us. "Terriermon!"
Sure enough, there was Jenrya's Digimon, perched on the lowest branch of the giant tree hanging over us. In his little paws, he held a cell phone; opened up and pointed directly at us. Judging by the flash, I could only assume this mysterious phone had a camera feature.
But where in the world did Terriermon get a...
"Heheh, sorry, couldn't resist," Terriermon apologized sheepishly. "I was passing by, and seeing you two just screamed a Kodak moment for me."
"Uh... Terriermon?" I was still completely bewildered. "What are you doing with a cell phone? I can tell that isn't Jen's..."
That really left only one option where that phone came from... I just didn't want to assume the worst in people... or Digimon...
Terriermon sighed and shrugged. "You got me, Takato. I found this off some dude who fell asleep on the bench about a block back." He quickly took the defensive as we stared at him disapprovingly. "... I was gonna give it back! Sheesh..."
Juri still looked pretty disappointed. "Honestly, Terriermon... between this and what we heard you did at the festival... why do you steal so much? Don't you know that's wrong? Weren't you taught better than that?" Really, Juri took the words right out of my mouth...
All Terriermon gave us was another wry smile and witty remark. "I guess I'm just your friendly neighborhood kleptomaniac; so sue me!"
"Kleptomania would explain a lot, actually," I mused. "Still, that doesn't excuse you from doing something wrong. You'd better delete that picture and return that phone before that guy wakes up and notices what's missing."
Great, just great... now I have to babysit Jen's own Digimon in his place while he was off... god only knows where. But... that raised a good point. It was worth holding up Terriermon atoning for his little sin, at least.
"Hold on a second, Terriermon," I called out. "What're you doing outside, anyway? Did Jen take you out with him?"
"He did," Terriermon answered bitterly. "But he was awfully quick to ditch me; I'm thinking he didn't want me coming outside with him at all. He's really been acting weird, and even I still can't put my finger on it..."
Juri couldn't believe it. "He just... up and left you? That can't be... why is he doing all of this?" She looked way more horrified than she should've been over this neglectful incident. But it was likely there was more to her fear than what she has expressed out loud... she was probably thinking about all the stuff she wouldn't yet tell me.
I bet a lot of that stuff she's withholding... was about Jen.
Randomly, I just realized how much easier for me it's been to talk to Juri. Normally I'd be blushing up a storm after having this much one-on-one time with her... but social problems aside, I was pretty calm so far. I knew I still loved Juri... but... it seemed even my heart knew there were more important things that needed to be dealt with first. And a lot of that... was going to involve helping Juri. I didn't have time to waste being all gushy around her when she's so depressed. She needed my help; anyone's help, really... I was determined to be the one that picked her up from all this before anything bad happened this time around.
"He completely skipped school today," I recalled out loud. "When exactly did you see him, Terriermon?"
"Every class, huh?" Terriermon asked me. I nodded; not that I shared every class with Jen in the first place to confirm it myself, but I had several accounts of students who did share other classes with him that could confirm his absence. "Funny, he didn't word it that way to me and his mom when he came home early in the afternoon..."
"That's... a really big gap of time between the time he left school and when he got home, then," I pointed out, wary of what could really be going down with him... "He left right before first period started. What was he doing for the rest of the morning?"
Should've expected it... Terriermon had no idea. "What, you think he was any less vague to me?"
Finally, Juri spoke up. For whatever reason, this whole Jenrya thing made her very uneasy... "Did he say or do anything when he came home? What made him go out again?"
Terriermon looked progressively more annoyed the more he had to recall the recent events. "He didn't really say a word when he came home," he said. "He went straight to his room and locked the door. It was just me, Lopmon, and his mom at home at this time, and his mom was in the shower. I knew it was pointless trying to pester Jen, so I waited for his mom to get out of the shower so I could let her know what was going on. So about... maybe half an hour later, Jen came out of his room and he had these really funky clothes on that I'm pretty sure I've never even seen in his closet before..."
"Funky clothes?" I asked. "How so?"
"Last thing you'd expect the 'intellectual' type to wear," Terriermon explained casually. "Black full-body spandex, steel-toed combat boots, a really swanky vest..."
"The doppelganger..." We heard Juri say. But when Terriermon and I looked at her, we saw her frowning and using her bare hand to clamp over her puppet's mouth. "S-sorry about that," she apologized, looking embarrassed. "He'll be quiet now."
... Have I ever mentioned how much I can't stand that thing?
"Anyway, yeah," Terriermon continued, unfazed. "He looked like some whacked-up cross between a Matrix fan character and Hard Gay. Totally not his usual style."
Was it bad that Terriermon's descriptions almost made me laugh? Seriously... "Well, that's... uh... he still didn't say anything, huh?"
"Questions about his fashion where the first ones we fired at him, believe me," Terriermon assured, even though that obviously wasn't what I was referring to. Quite the opposite, actually. "Totally blew them off. We did get him to speak up on why he ditched school, but all he said was that he had a relapse... apparently a brief one that lasted about half an hour. We assumed since he came home so late that he didn't miss all of school, but..."
"He did," I reaffirmed. "Every single class. I was the last one who saw him, actually... he hardly said a word to me."
"You... didn't stop him?" Terriermon inquired, cocking an eye at me.
Being constantly reminded that I was powerless to stop him this morning was really dealing a blow to my self-esteem. But we all have to make sacrifices at some point...
"I tried," I clarified. "I honestly did. I didn't want to do anything to hurt or upset him, but he just turned around and walked away. When I followed him, I got held up because my chest started hurting again..."
"That's what Kenta told me," Juri said in a quiet whisper. "Oh... Takato... you had me worried sick all day because of that!"
I paused and looked to her. I didn't see much of Juri today for some reason, so I didn't figure she'd know what happened in the morning. I forgot Kenta shared a couple of classes with her, though... and the way he'd been acting after I told him, I'm sure he would've spread it at some point.
"Juri... I'm so sorry I worried you," I apologized, deeply and honestly as I could muster. I really felt like crap that my stupid physical problems were causing my friends to drown in their worries and paranoia. "It was brief, though; I promise! And I feel totally fine now, so there's no need to dwell on it now. If it happens again, I promise I'll do everything I can to let you know so you can get me some help, okay?"
This was the first time Terriermon heard of it too, obviously. He looked none too pleased himself. "Geez, kid... you're gonna give us all our own heart attacks one day, you know?"
"Well, I'm better now!" I stated, adamant about that. "So tell me, Terriermon. Why did he want to come back outside?"
"Hm... he claimed it was to see you guys so he could 'catch up on his missed homework' for today, but seeing as he ditched me so quickly, I suspect that was a big fib," Terriermon mused, looking a bit more serious now. "So I don't know what he's up to... he was in and out so quickly, and the little costume threw us all off... it's like he's trying to confuse us."
"Yeah, no kidding," I agreed. "Well, by now we've all tried individually to talk to him... only option left is to corner him all together."
"An intervention!" Juri exclaimed. "Maybe that might make him crack under the pressure... much as I dislike the idea of doing that to him..."
I had my business face on. So I was foolishly in love with Jenrya beyond all comprehension... even I could tell myself this was more than some silly love issue. Whatever it really was, though... I was almost scared to find out. But I couldn't let my fear be apparent to my friends; I reflect my own team's morale, after all!
"We tried the nice way at every possible angle by now, Juri," I reminded her. "It's time to get serious. Everything he's been doing lately is not only suspicious, but it's... not consistent with how we identity Jen as a person. He's acted absolutely nothing like himself, and it's time we found out why!" I didn't understand why I was so bold... I just knew I was tired of screwing around and not making any progress with this.
Jenrya was my best friend, above all else, and vice-versa... I hoped. If I had to carry our friendship solely on my back to solve this problem, then so be it. And I'd dare whatever's causing our friendship to break apart to bring on whatever it's got, because now, I was gonna be ready for it!
But just then, my mental tangent of glory was cut off by a familiar loud, obtrusive sound I could only identify as the ambulance.
Sure enough, such a vehicle seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere and whizzed right past us, causing all of us to cover our ears in fear of being rendered deaf.
Once it was far away enough to where it wasn't threatening to bust open our eardrums, we looked questioningly at each other.
"Looks like it's headed downtown," Terriermon reported, as he had a much better vantage point than me or Juri by being up on the tree. After a moment he added another observation: "Doesn't look like it's moving anymore, though... so whatever happened must've been nearby. It's a few blocks down, though; I can just barely see the flashing lights."
"You think we should check it out?" I asked innocently.
"Why would you want to?" Juri asked me, horrified. Ah, to be a girl... "It's probably something gruesome, or even dangerous..."
"We'll never know until we see for ourselves!" said the naturally noisy Terriermon. "It's more interesting than wasting our exuberant youth here in a park you're nearly too old for!"
Ugh, was that low blow really necessary? "Thank you for reminding us," I sarcastically replied. But still, my curiosity was naturally aroused... "Still, I wouldn't mind at least giving it a brief look. If we want to corner Jen efficiently, we're gonna need to find Kenta and 'Kazu and everyone else anyway. We might as well start off while there's still kinda daylight..." In a dull gray sort of way, but still.
"Clever excuse," Juri muttered, as she saw right through my pathetic scheming. I just had to fall for smart people, didn't I...? "But what can I do? I'm outnumbered, two to one."
"Thanks for being a good sport!" Terriermon complimented, leaping off the tree and onto Juri's head. "Mind if a hitch a ride?"
Juri just giggled nervously. "Well, since you already made the trip... just don't mess up my hair and don't hassle my Puppet, okay? Can you promise me?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die!" Terriermon proudly proclaimed, paws behind his back. I didn't need to see it to know he was crossing his claws back there.
Still, I shrugged it off. It wasn't like we'd be walking very long to check this situation out. "All right, then. We're off!"
And off we went.
We were too into studying the area to be very chatty on the way over. The lights were becoming brighter and brighter every step we took. Eventually, we could see that there was another ambulance parked next to the one we just saw; it probably came from another route. Situations like this usually mean a monster wreck happened at the four-way intersection.
However, the area seemed to only contain parked cars; very few cars were seen on the road, probably due to the fact that the ambulance was just tearing through the road. Lots of people were crowded up when we got close... and eventually, we realized there was no wreck at all. No scattered auto parts, no pile-up of totaled cars incinerating in a massive bonfire... The focus wasn't on the road at all.
It was on the sidewalk we were walking on. There was a steady, thick circle of people surrounding the scene by the time we got there. We tried to get some kind of bird's eye view, but every angle was cornered completely. What we heard was a little concerning, though...
"Man, oh man... the good always die young, don't they?"
"Who could do such a thing to an innocent child?!"
"Lowest of the low, I'll tell you what! Coward isn't even in sight...!"
"What do you expect? It's stupid to stick around after you abuse a kid to this kind of extent..."
A.. a kid? So there was a predator on the loose...
"That doesn't sound good at all!" Juri remarked, fearful of the truth. "But it looks like we're not going to be able to see what exactly happened..."
"That's where you're wrong!" Terriermon bellowed, standing firm. "I'll find out for you guys! Just you wait...!"
I've never seen a Digimon take advantage of his small size as well as Terriermon. He definitely knew how to abuse his gifts. Wouldn't my life have been easier if I had as many perks with Guilmon...?
Anyway, Juri and I patiently waited for our news as Terriermon made stepping stones out of the onlookers' heads. Eventually he vanished from sight... he probably wanted to memorize it all down to the detail. Good old... nosy... Terriermon.
... But he sure did come back quick. My smile faded when I saw a very devastated expression on Terriermon's face; something that you only see on a rare occasion. Not to mention a bad one. He was double-quick about getting back to us, too.
"Y-you guys...! You guys!!" he shouted in panic. "You guys better squeeze your way through quick! This is NO good! No good at all!"
My heart felt like it skipped a beat; this feeling of dread gave me some kind of vague deja vu for some reason... "W-what's going on, Terriermon? What did you see?"
"This is serious!" Terriermon insisted, jumping onto me and clinging to my chest. "Go! Right now! The one they're loading up onto the gurney is Kenta...!"
Juri's hands went up to cover her mouth in pure horror. I felt the color draining from my face as I let that sink in...
Kenta... oh... oh, god...
"HURRY!" Terriermon hollered, as if he were trying to pull me forward. I tried so hard not to freak out over it now... not until we knew everything! But this was something I needed to be here for. No longer hesitating, I grabbed Juri's hand and started to plow through the wall of people in our way.
They were too caught up in the moment to resist me; no one would want to resist me right now, anyway. No one would ever get between me and my friends...! Especially not when they needed me!
It was horrifying in its own right. There was no blood or gore; thank goodness... but it takes a lot for a scene to be frightening without all that. I could already hear Juri bursting into tears when we came to the front and saw exactly what Terriermon described: a very battered Kenta Kitagawa being loaded up and wheeled to the truck. The area had been taped to keep away the bystanders, but it would take more than that to stop me.
Still holding onto Juri, I cried out as I ran and broke through that pitiful plastic barrier that dared to wall me away from my friend.
"KENTA!!"
( TBC )