Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.

Less than Human

Chapter: 36/ A New Day

Jeri Katou slowly opened her eyes to the new day and stretched beneath the blankets of her bed. A small, content smile bloomed on her face as a sigh escaped her lips as she breathed the morning air, glorying in the warm feel of the blankets that surrounded her. Not for the first time did the comfort that her bed offered her make her think that she was in the embrace of a loved one, reminding her of times that she had cherished from days long past and times that she knew that she would cherish in the days to come, with family, friends, or someone even more special and close to her heart. Resolving to not move from her bed for the few minutes that she had before her stepmother came in and told her to get going if she wanted to get to school on time Jeri snuggled deeper into her blankets, breathing another sigh and drifting between sleep and wakefulness. Her smile broadened as she caught the scent of freshly baked bread on the air…a gift from having spent time down at the Matsuki bakery to help Kazu help Takato's parents until the boy got back from his vacation.

Takato…

Jeri's smile faltered as she remembered a few things that had occurred the night before last when Rika had taken off to go help Takato following Calumon's appearance at Rika's home. Jeri had been relieved to hear from Henry when he and Kenta dropped by to tell them that Yamaki had received a message from Impmon, Takato and Rika that they were all alright, and that Guilmon was back among the living once again. Henry hadn't alluded too much about the silly and sometimes childish crimson colored dinosaur but Kenta had quite a bit to say about the information that Takato had given Yamaki, some of which worried her, namely Guilmon's change in appearance (something that had caused quite a bit of confusion within the group) and amnesia. That last part alone caused quite a bit of worry with Jeri, but Kenta had maintained optimism that Guilmon would be 'right as rain' soon if they all did their best to help the oversized dino remember his previous life.

Of course, thought Jeri, releasing some pent up tension in the form of a light chuckle. Kazu just had to go and ruin Kenta's point by saying that if things were right as rain we'd all catch cold…poor Kenta. I just hope Guilmon's really all right. I'd hate for him to have to go through everything that he has and lose everything that was important to him.

Jeri sighed.

I wonder how Takato's coping with things right now. I know that he'd have hope that Guilmon will remember things the way he used to, and if he doesn't I know that Rika won't let him think like that. She's like that sometimes. I remember Takato telling me once about how she helped him move past his fears of losing his friendship with Guilmon during the pig Deva's rampage.

Jeri rolled over in her bed so that she was now facing the wall, idly tracing a circle in the sheets that covered her bed with one finger. Images of her two friends Rika and Takato rolled through her mind as Jeri thought back to her conversation with the red headed Tamer during their sleepover together. Things were…confusing to say the least. Up until now she hadn't thought that much about how she felt about their mutual friend and unofficial leader of the Tamers, perhaps because she had never really been in a situation that had forced her to really look at them and how they might affect someone else that she was close to. She knew that she cared about him quite a lot and had suspected that he had feelings for her that were just as mutual as hers were for him, but she wasn't exactly in any rush to admit them, though there had been a few times shortly after the conclusion of the D-Reaper invasion where both she and Takato practically stumbled over their words whenever they were around each other where she was sure that one of them would say something about how they felt or slip up, the latter of which one of their friends would have attributed to Takato…

…But it never happened. They had remained simply close friends. Not that they should have been anything more at their age, as she was certainly willing to wait until they were older to sort things out but Jeri had to admit being occasionally disappointed whenever things that she said that could be called hints flew over Takato's head and he would just look at her in confusion. Poor, clueless Takato, but naivety was one of the things that she had liked about him from when they first met. Of course, back then she viewed him differently. Cute, and silly…and weird given his open obsession with digimon, but not exactly the worst thing that she could think of given that she was something of a closet collector of the game herself. When she found out that he was a Tamer and had a real digimon he seemed to just open up to her and she found out things about him that she otherwise wouldn't have if things were different. Admirable qualities of courage and fortitude, becoming something of a heroic figure that she had read about in stories so often. Not quite the same as Leomon had been when he first arrived in the real world and she had become practically smitten with upon first sight but close enough. It was rather ironic that he had biomerged with Guilmon to become a knight, transforming into the kind of storybook hero that Takato, in his beginnings, had liked to compare himself to and she had always admired, and just as equally ironic that he had rescued her. True, he wasn't Gallantmon when she had woken up in his arms (that honor had more or less gone to Rika on top of the runaway Locomon from almost a month ago) but the scene had been close enough to be almost out of a fairytale.

But between the two of us, Rika's more the part of the princess, thought Jeri, smiling a little as she knew that Rika would hate the comparison and disliked being in the position of 'damsel in distress' even less.

Funny, thought Jeri as she continued to trace circles on her bed sheets. I didn't think much about it back when we were preparing for Rika's surprise party…when I asked Takato to help Rika's mother distract her. Mrs. Nonaka had been the one to suggest the Cherry Blossoms and I thought that it was a great idea. Takato wasn't too sure about it but I had persisted. I remember how Takato had thrown up his hands, looking nervous, saying that perhaps it would be better if he tried something else because he didn't think that Rika would like doing something like that, with my response being something along the lines of 'you never know what she'll like if you don't do more things with her. Besides, you might like hanging out with her like that. I always have a good time with her when it's just us together…'

Jeri couldn't help but find some ironic humor to the situation. She wasn't sure how long Rika had felt the way she had for Takato even though Rika admitted that she herself was unsure what her feelings were for the goggle-wearing, occasionally fumble footed Tamer, but Jeri realized that she had essentially, however unknowingly, pushed Takato over to Rika without any thought as to the consequences thereof. An accidental 'matchmaker' move that seemed almost a typical…Takato act. Rika, being one of the most mature Tamers of the group, second only to Henry and Ryo, might have easily mistaken Takato's 'distraction' as to mean something else other then just friendship. Of course, she had quickly deduced that there was something fishy going on and had dragged the admission of his distraction for a surprise party out of Takato. By Rika's own account of the matter a couple days later when she and Jeri were discussing it the next day while hanging out, it was "either that or the Gogglehead was actually asking her out on a date", the latter of which she claimed to be highly unlikely unless he had been put up to it. They had both laughed at it then, but now…

Not so funny anymore is it? Thought Jeri as she shifted beneath her blankets. All this time and Rika…she never gave any hints. Never said or did anything that led me, or anyone to think that she thought of Takato in that way.

Jeri thought back to her conversation with Rika, and how she had told her that it was perhaps better that she should be the one to be with Takato. The reasons that she had given for believing that didn't make Rika happy, far from it in fact but Jeri couldn't help but think that upon learning of Rika's actions. Rika had been there from the beginning of their days as Tamers, had helped him when he needed help. True, she had been there to do the same for a time while Leomon had been with her but if there was one thing that she was keenly aware of it was that she couldn't do that anymore. Without Leomon by her side she couldn't fight by Takato's side or protect him, Guilmon, or any of her friends from the dangers that threatened them during battle. This helplessness and inability to do anything had often tugged at her whenever her friends had gone off to battle an enemy. She had accepted it then though it did bother her from time to time, and then…when Lucemon had destroyed Guilmon…

I had been with Takato then. I couldn't do anything and the others had been too far away. They weren't able to get there in time because of that. If…things were different…if Rika had been there instead…

Jeri's hand clenched at her bed sheets angrily, knowing full well that if Rika knew that she was still pursuing that line of thought she'd be just as furious with her as she was with herself, but she just couldn't help herself. There were just so many times that she felt so useless to her friends…

"Don't you say that!" Rika all but hissed. "Don't you dare say that! Just because I go and kiss that Gogglehead is no excuse for you to just give up on him! You're strong in your own way! You protect him in your own way! Takato doesn't need me to hold his hand all the time when things get rough! I watch out for him because that's what friends do! Sure I care about him, probably a lot more than I realize, but…" Rika's gaze softened a little now as she felt her ire ease up on the girl. "…That's no excuse for you to just give him up, especially on my account. And one more thing… you're not useless! So get that crazy idea out of your head!"

Jeri released her hold on her sheets as the memory played through her mind. She knew Rika was right, but she couldn't help the way that she felt sometimes, just like Rika couldn't help how she felt for Takato now regardless of how she saw him before the incident with Lucemon came down on them. They were all victims of their circumstances. It was all so confusing, but if there was one thing that Jeri was certain of it was that she cared about all of her friends, and if Rika wanted to be with Takato then she wasn't going to get in her way. The happiness of her friends was much too important to her…

Jeri was interrupted from her thoughts as she felt something small, and lightweight land on the edge of her bed and then scramble onto her shoulder. Risking a peak, though she had an idea as to what it was, Jeri's amber colored eyes met the large, blinking, and happy green eyes of one, white colored cream puff…Calumon.

"Wakey, wakey Jeri, Jeri," Calumon chirped, causing the brown haired girl to smile and shift her weight so that she could face him more fully.

" 'Morning Calumon," said Jeri groggily as she sat up. Calumon hopped off of her shoulder.

"Sleep well, Jeri?" Chirped the In-training digimon as he expanded his ears and tilted his head to one side.

"As well as anyone can, silly," replied Jeri as she swung her legs over towards the ladder of her bunk bed and began to climb down.

"Oh?" Calumon's smile disappeared and his face became questioning at the way that she had answered his question. "So you didn't sleep good?"

Jeri giggled, realizing that she had accidentally mislead him.

"No, no. I mean I slept well, it's just that I've got some things on my mind, that's all."

Calumon raised one tiny hand to his chin and tilted his head again.

"Those must be some pretty important things then if you're thinking about them when you're asleep. I usually can't do something like that because then I can't go to sleep. My brain just gets too busy to sleep. You must be super talented…"

Jeri giggled again but decided not to try and correct him on that right now. She had to get ready for school.

"So…what were you thinking about?" Asked Calumon as he floated on over to her while she opened up her dresser drawer and began to pick out her clothes for the day.

"Lots of things," she answered.

"Like Guilmon and Takato?"

Jeri nodded. "At least we now know that both them and Rika and Renamon are okay."

"Yeah! They're tough! I can't wait to see them when they get back!"

"Yeah," said Jeri softly as she folded her clothes across her right arm and walked over to the bedroom door and slid it open, a small, but worried smile appearing on her face as she did so. "Me too."

"So what are you going to do when you see Takato?" Asked Calumon as he plopped down on Jeri's head when she left the room and began to head towards the bathroom to change. "I'll bet that you're going to kiss him!"

At that Jeri's face turned bright red. Out of all of her friends, Calumon was perhaps the most aware of her feelings for Calumon due to the fact that they had a far closer association then anyone else that they knew, driven primarily because Calumon had chosen to live with her after returning to the digital world. She had at one point commented on her feelings about Takato to her stepmother while working with her in the kitchen at their family restaurant and Calumon had happened to overhear it. Not that he was eavesdropping mind you but with ears as big as his there was very little that he missed. As a result of his direct, childish nature and his own predisposition towards the nature of love (fueled mostly by Jeri's characterization of the human definition of the emotion and various soap operas that he watched on television whenever he got the chance) he often asked Jeri when she was going to get around to cementing her feelings in any concrete manner and teased her good humouredly about it whenever he got the chance.

At least he keeps the promise I made him make about not mentioning it or acting this way in front of the others, thought Jeri grouchily.

"Calumon!"

"Awww…but Jeri…like the people on the talking boxes say, you've been carrying such a torch for him and I know that he likes you…"

"I think that you've been watching too much TV lately. We're going to have to start weaning you off of that for a bit just so that you can come back down to Earth."

"But I'm already in the real world…"

"You know what I mean! And no, I'm not going to kiss Takato when I see him again!"

"But I'm sure he'd like it if you did," continued Calumon. "And you would too. It would make both of you so happy…"

"Not in this case Calumon," said Jeri glumly as she approached the door to the bathroom and knocked on its surface gently to see if there was anyone in there already. There weren't.

"Huh? Why's that?" Asked the little creampuff, perplexed.

"It's…complicated." Jeri opened up the door to the bathroom and stepped inside.

"Well…could you explain it to me?" Asked Calumon as his ears sagged downwards

Jeri shook her head apologetically.

"It's what I was thinking about earlier. Like I said, it's complicated and between me and Takato." And Rika, thought Jeri in her head, but she didn't want to say anything about that.

"I just don't want to talk about it right now," finished Jeri as she closed the bathroom door behind her. There followed a second of silence in which no further noise could be heard until the door opened up again almost as an afterthought and then Calumon was abruptly deposited outside.

"Especially not now," said Jeri as she shut the door quickly behind her once again while Calumon was busily tumbling in the air trying to right himself.

"Whoa!"

Noriko hefted her backpack onto her shoulders and looked down at her little brother Daisuke as he slowly and carefully tied his shoes together, taking his time so as to not miss a single loop. Noriko sighed audibly at the speed of her little brother but otherwise did not say or do anything to rush him. Daisuke tended to get quite irritable whenever someone interfered with his tying his shoelaces together, which would only result in more time being wasted. This she knew by bitter experience and had no desire to have a repeat of such an event no matter how many times they had come close to being late because of Daisuke's slowness in the matter. Eventually he would learn and pick up a speed and rhythm, but until then she was resigned to waiting many, long minutes until the boy was satisfied that he had done the job right and wouldn't have to worry about a shoe flying off his feet while he was playing at recess.

"Got everything you need?" Called out Aiko as she exited the kitchen, busily drying her hands on a dishrag.

"Yes Mom! We've got our books, our bags, lunch money, and Dai's wearing his pants on right…for once."

"Hey!" Cried out Daisuke as he finished putting on the last touches to his shoes and got to his feet, glaring at his older sister.

If looks could kill, thought Noriko sarcastically at her brother's failed attempt to stare her down.

"All right," chuckled Aiko as she bent down and gave Daisuke a hug before turning to Noriko and repeating the gesture.

"Okay. Now remember, I'm going to be home a little bit late tonight so there are leftovers in the fridge and some Yen on the counter with the number for take out in case you want to call something in. House rules still apply. Be home before dark, if you go anywhere you take Daisuke with you. No ifs, ands, or buts about it and I expect that you both have the day's homework done before you turn in."

Noriko frowned.

"Yeah, we know. I'm still a little bit confused as to why you want to see Henry's folks…"

Aiko shrugged. "I just have some questions for them, that's all. It has to do with the digital world. I feel that I…may have been a little too hasty with dismissing the aid of those Hypnos agents…"

Noriko's brow furrowed even more. Memories flashed through her mind. Memories from when she had caught sight of her eyes changing color shortly before her return to school, and another time when she had a strange vision and written some rather bizarre notes when she had been working on her homework. She wondered…had she done something to set her mother ill at ease?

But…she'd tell me if there was something wrong…wouldn't she? She never held back on me before. Except for that time with Dad…

Noriko shook off the thought, and the memories, deciding that it was best to trust her mother. Whatever her mother's reasons were for meeting up with Henry's family after she was done with going back to work (having taken some time off to search for her, and later to help her readjust to coming back home).

"Well…okay. Be sure to say hi to Henry for me if you see him there."

Aiko smiled and then proceeded to pinch her daughter's cheek playfully.

"I'll do that."

"Hey! Don't do that, Mom!"

"Just trying to put some color back into your cheeks," Aiko chuckled as she stood up.

"I don't need color, Mom," grumbled Noriko as she folded her arms across her chest, her cheeks picking up a rosy tint to them from being treated like a little kid. "My face is perfectly fine without any help…"

"Well, it is now," smirked Aiko. "After all, I want my little girl to be looking her best when she goes to class…"

"Grrr…Mom…"

Aiko tilted her head to one side and gave a false sigh. Off to the side Daisuke giggled and Noriko glared at him menacingly.

"Sorry. It's so easy to forget that you're not my baby girl anymore and that you're all grown up. Now, you'd better get going Ms. Independent and mature. You still have quite a few years of education left to go through."

"All right, all right…"

Aiko gave her children another quick hug and watched as they left the house. Aiko sighed again, this time for real.

It's so easy to forget what I saw that one night, Aiko thought. From how she acts you'd think that there really is nothing wrong with her. Maybe I am just being paranoid but…I can't ignore what I saw. I just hope that I can get to the bottom of this and that nothing's wrong with Noriko. I don't think I could take it if I lost another one of my family…

Aiko turned away from the door and shut it with a click behind her before walking back towards the kitchen so that she could get herself ready to leave. She paused briefly to look at a picture frame that had the image of a man with dark hair, eyes that looked like they held great depths to them, and a broad, almost silly grin. After the moment passed Aiko entered the kitchen.

At least young Henry will be at his home today. Hopefully nothing will happen that will prevent that…

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