Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Ryoko's partner is coming up soon!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 29: Ema's Bright Idea

Taysuke 'Tay' Kamiya

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

Taysuke waited patiently on Taniko's doorstep and frowned. Ema had better have a good excuse for making me get up early today!

The door suddenly opened, and he found himself gazing at Taniko's father.

"Hi, Tay," Izzy said with a smile. "Kenzo and Ema are already here. You had better get in the living room before Ema throws a fit. I heard her muttering something about you being late."

Why does that not surprise me?

"Alright," he said with a sigh, brushing past Izzy and heading towards the living room.

"Where were you?" Ema shouted, the minute he walked into the room.

"I was at home sleeping!" he shot back, giving her a dirty look. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

Ema glanced at the door and turned to look at Taniko who was sitting beside her on the couch. "Your parents are still here so we had better keep our voices down."

Taniko raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now you've got my attention. What's this about?"

"My cousin," Ema muttered, glancing at the door again.

Taysuke stared at her with interest and sat down next to Kenzo on the floor. "Which one? Dai or Ami?"

"Dai, of course," Ema replied, rolling her eyes. "Actually, it's about your sister and the rest of Dai's friends, too."

Now he was really interested. I wonder if this has something to do with Takara's and Ryoko's absence from my soccer game a couple of days ago.

"What about them?" he asked curiously. "Takara was still sleeping when I left the house about fifteen minutes ago."

"I bet your parents were surprised to see you up so early!" Taniko laughed. "You're not exactly a morning person, Tay!"

"Hey! Ema wasted ten minutes shouting at me over the phone this morning! Not to mention her call was the thing that woke me up in the first place! I've got plenty of reasons to be in a lousy mood, and I plan to take advantage of each and every one of them!"

Taniko gave him a look, and he grinned.

"My dad was so shocked to see me up so early that he almost fell down the stairs! It was actually pretty funny, now that I think about it."

"I was not shouting at you over the phone!" Ema shouted.

"Ema, you asked us to meet here for a reason," Kenzo interrupted, his dark eyes serious. "We don't have all day, you know."

"Fine," Ema grumbled. "Have you guys noticed that Dai and his friends have been acting a little strange lately?"

Taysuke nodded. "Kara and Ryoko never miss my soccer games. What do you think is going on?"

"I'm not sure, but I do intend to find out," Ema replied, narrowing her dark eyes. "I'm pretty sure that Dai skipped his soccer practice a couple of days ago. The only problem is that I can't prove it."

Kenzo frowned and gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. "If what you're saying is true, then that would mean that Kara, Ryoko, Sam, and the twins weren't really watching Dai's practice."

"So basically Ryoko and Kara lied to Aunt Mimi, Uncle Matt, and my parents," Taysuke said flatly. Where could they have been all that time? I thought they wanted to see my game!

He stared at the floor, feeling hurt and confused. It's bad enough that they lied to the adults, but why would they lie to me? I thought that Kara trusted me. She could have told me where she was. I would have kept her secret as long as it didn't put her in any danger. Doesn't she like watching my games anymore?

"Why do you think that Dai skipped practice?" Kenzo asked, giving Ema a curious look.

"I was at Dai's house a couple of nights ago, the same day that he skipped practice, and he was acting really weird. I could tell that he was hiding something. I know that he could have been heading towards the locker rooms when we saw him that afternoon in the hallway, but it all just seems so suspicious."

"I wonder what they're up to?" Taniko muttered.

"There's only one way to know for sure," Ema said cheerfully. "From now on we are going to have to keep a close eye on them."

Taysuke nodded in agreement. I had a feeling that Ryoko was hiding something earlier. Now I'm sure of it. He was acting really strange at my soccer game, and I want to know why.

"Don't worry, Ema. We'll find out what's going on," Taniko said, looking amused.

"Poor Dai," Kenzo muttered, and Taysuke laughed.

Yeah, poor Dai. He's not going to know what hit him!

"Would you guys all like some breakfast before you go?" Mina asked, coming into the room and giving them a warm smile.

Taysuke smiled back at Taniko's mother and nodded. "That would be great. Thanks!"

I never even had a chance to eat at my own house, thanks to Ema. I'm definitely going to have to find a way to get her back for this!

"Awesome! I'm so hungry! I haven't had a chance to eat anything yet," Ema said cheerfully.

It's your own fault you haven't!

He glared at her and let out a sigh.

"Well? What are you all waiting for?" Mina asked, her dark brown eyes sparkling with laughter. "Come on into the kitchen."

Taysuke followed Mina and his friends into the next room, and he sat down beside Izzy.

"How come you guys are up so early today? What's the special occasion?" Izzy asked, lowering the newspaper he was reading and giving them all a smile.

Ema smiled slightly and shrugged. "When I find out what Dai's up to, I'll let you know. I have a feeling that everyone's going to find out whether I say anything or not!"

Izzy glanced at Mina and frowned in confusion. "What's this about Dai?"

"Don't ask me! I don't have a clue what she's talking about!" Mina laughed, straightening her dress and sitting down next to her husband.

Taysuke gaped at Ema in shock.

"I thought that you didn't want your parents to know about Dai!" he whispered in her ear.

"They don't know," Ema whispered back, smiling slightly.

"But-"

"I was just having some fun. Honestly, Tay. Sometimes you worry too much, you know that?"

"What are you two whispering about?" Izzy asked. His hair was cut short, and he was currently dressed in slacks, a dress shirt, and a matching tie.

"I'm not sure. I'll have to get back to you on that one!" he replied, giving Ema a look and shaking his head. Ryoko and Kara had better have a good explanation for skipping out on my game!

Sooner or later, Ema was going to find out what Dai and the others were hiding. When she did find out, he intended to be right there with her to hear the answer.

Daichi 'Dai' Motomiya

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

"Dai! Get your dumb dog out of my room, right now!" Ami shouted.

Dai rolled over in his bed and slowly opened his eyes. "Will you shut up? I'm trying to sleep!" he groaned, hitting the wall that seperated their rooms with his fist.

A moment later, Ami entered the room and shook her hairbrush at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to let Shadow into my room? He's getting hair all over the floor!"

"Don't call my dog dumb!" he shouted back at her. He quickly shoved DemiEmbermon under the blankets, but luckily Ami did not seem to have noticed the little digimon.

"You call Shadow dumb all the time!" she shot back, giving him a dirty look.

"So? That doesn't mean that you can call him names! He's my dog which means I can call him whatever I want!"

Ami yanked the brush through her shoulder-length dark hair and glared at him. "I had better not catch Shadow in my room again or you're going to be in big trouble, understand?"

Dai glared back at her and crossed his arms. "Whatever, now give him back! You're scaring him with all of your yelling!"

Ami was holding Shadow under one arm, and the puppy looked a little sheepish. "Fine, but make sure he sleeps in your room from now on!"

Dai frowned. "He was in here last night."

"Well he must have snuck into my room when I was sleeping," Ami replied, placing Shadow in his arms. "I found him under the bed this morning."

Shadow cuddled against his chest, and he frowned at Ami who seemed to be waiting for something.

"What?" he asked, sounding grumpy. He hated it when people woke him up.

"Well? Aren't you going to discipline him?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "It's no wonder that that dog never listens to anyone!"

"Right. Bad dog!" he said, shaking his finger at Shadow. "You know very well that you're not suppose to be in Ami's room! There'll be no more extra treats for you until you learn to behave yourself!"

Shadow responded by licking his face.

Apparently his disciplining satisfied Ami because she smiled in satisfaction and left the room.

"Good dog," he murmured to Shadow, the second Ami had disappeared. "Next time sleep on her bed!"

"What's going on?" DemiEmbermon mumbled from underneath the blankets. The little digimon had just woken up, and he peeked out from under the covers.

"Don't worry. That was just Ami being her usual lame self!" Dai replied, giving his partner a warm smile.

DemiEmbermon smiled back at him and hopped into his arms next to Shadow.

"Dai? Are you up yet?" his father called from downstairs.

He let out a yelp and quickly shoved DemiEmbermon back under the blankets.

A moment later his father came into the room and smiled at him. "Good, you're awake. Your mother wants you to take Shadow for his morning walk."

"Can't somebody else take him for once?" he complained. Why do I always have to do everything around here?

"He's your dog, Dai. When we gave Shadow to you for your birthday, you promised that you would take responsibility for him. It's too late to back out now!" his father replied, looking amused.

Dai made a face at his dad and sighed. Shadow had been a tiny puppy when he had first gotten the dog for his birthday. Over the last couple of months, Shadow had grown larger, but his dog still lacked any real household training. He had not been able to bring himself to discipline the little puppy, and now he was paying for it big time.

"Remind me why I ever wanted a dog in the first place?" he muttered, giving Shadow a dark look.

His dad laughed and leaned over to scratch Shadow's ears. "Come on, Dai. You better get up. Your mom's already a little grumpy this morning."

"Why?" he asked, frowning in confusion. "I just woke up. I haven't had time to get into any trouble yet!"

His father laughed and sat down next to him on the bed. "She heard you arguing with Ami a couple of minutes ago. What were you two fighting about this time?"

"She was being mean to Shadow!" he replied.

"Well, what do you expect! That dog is nothing but trouble!" Ami replied, coming back into the room.

Their father raised an eyebrow and smiled at her. "I thought that you were meeting Miya and Noah at the convenience store in a few minutes."

"I would be there already if it wasn't for Dai!" she said, looking irritated.

"Sure, blame everything on me!" he shouted back. Lousy sister!

"Come on, Dai. You better hurry up or you're going to be late," his dad said. "That will really make your mother's day!"

His dad was about to pull back the blanket, but he quickly grabbed it and pulled it back up. A small gasp had escaped his mouth, and his father stared at him in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"Um...nothing," he replied, hugging the blanket tightly to his chest.

"Then why aren't you getting out of bed?" his dad asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well? What do you expect? How am I suppose to get dressed with everybody standing around in here gawking at me!" he replied.

"Dai, have you forgotten that your mother made me help change your diapers? Trust me, it's nothing I haven't seen before!" his father said, rolling his eyes and looking amused.

"I don't mean you, I'm talking about her," he replied, glaring at Ami.

She made a face at him and came over to kiss their dad's cheek. "I better go. I'll see you later, Dad," she said.

"Alright, have a good day," their father replied, giving her a hug.

"And you'd better not make fun of my dog again!" Dai added.

Ami glared at him and flounced out of the room in her jeans and white sweater.

"I'll see you downstairs," his dad said, giving him a warm hug.

"Don't worry, I'll be quick," he said with a laugh, watching his father leave the room.

As soon as his dad was gone, he pulled back the blankets and glared at DemiEmbermon. "You're going to get me into so much trouble, you know that?"

DemiEmbermon smiled at him. "You should learn to be more careful! Hey, Dai? Can we have breakfast now?"

"Daichi Motomiya! Get down here this instant!" his mother shouted up the stairs.

He let out a sigh and smiled at DemiEmbermon. "Yeah. I don't think we have a choice! That was definitely our cue to get moving!"

"Right! I can't wait to get back to the Digiworld again!" DemiEmbermon said cheerfully.

"I feel the same way. That reminds me. I better tell my parents that I'm playing soccer with the others after school today. Now lets go get some food!"

"Yes!" DemiEmbermon cheered.

Dai laughed and finally climbed out of bed to get dressed.