EPISODE 38: Grief
Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon decided to walk home together. They decided not to call Yun's parents and have them pick them up. The rabbits think this might be a good opportunity for Yun to learn her way around town and get out more, which they've noticed she's been doing a lot lately. Sure, they felt a little tired after the fight with Shadramon, but they were alert enough to walk on the sidewalk and get some exercise, which Yun also needed as well. Lopmon enjoyed the walk, mostly because she got to look at the scenery around her. She especially liked the sunset and it's way of making the clouds appear in many different colors, like blue, pink, red, orange, and purple. She had to wonder how the sky could be so pretty. She wondered if Yun's world was like that: full of many intricate and multifarious colors that don't seem to fall in place. Terriermon, on the other hand, was thinking of something else entirely.
"Boooo! I'm soooo hungry!" Terriermon complained. Yun couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Don't worry. When we get home, we'll have dinner," Yun told him.
"I hope it's done before we get home, because I'm ready to chow down!" Terriermon bellowed, apparently not caring about what Yun just said just now, which seemed to irk Lopmon a trifle.
"Now now, Terriermon. Patience. Good things come to those who wait," Lopmon told him kindly, but he didn't seem to buy it.
"Well I'm tired of waitin'! I'm ready for some FOOD!" Terriermon retorted, which made the others laughs.
"You're always thinking about food, kyu," Cutemon said.
"No I don't! I think about Yun and I think about how much I want to beat LadyDevimon and those two BlackGatomon to a pulp and I think about how great it is that Nyaromon is back!" Terriermon explained.
"'Tis a lie! Food is always in thy mind, thou silly thing!" Lucero retorted with a cute smile.
"What'd you say? I dare you to say that again!" Terriermon exclaimed, becoming a little angry. Yun saw that the Wakamiya house is arriving within their vicinity and, much to Yun's delight, a certain someone wasn't standing in front of the house to antagonize them.
"Good! Nemoto's mom isn't here!" Yun muttered.
"Hm? What did thou say just now?" Lucero asked.
"I said that Nemoto's mom isn't here," Yun told him.
"Who?" Cutemon asked.
"Oh! You don't know, do you, Cutemon?" Lopmon said. "Yun has to deal with this mean kid at school on a regular basis. His name is Nemoto Nenji, and he's NOT a nice person. Not only that, his mom bullies her too!"
"WHAT? How horrible, kyu!"
"I agree. It IS horrible."
"Couldn't agree with you more!" Terriermon exclaimed.
"But you've never met Nemoto's mom so how would you know?" Lopmon asked.
"I don't need to have met her to know what she's like! If she's just like her son, then she's just as bad as him!" Terriermon pouted with his arms crossed.
Finally, Yun, Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon walked up to Yun's house, opened the door, and went inside, hoping to relax and have some fun before the weekend arrives...but when they got inside, they saw something unexpected. Yun did NOT want to see this: Ayaka, Shunji, and Dracomon are in the living room watching MTV! The most shocking thing? Ayaka and Shunji are KISSING! Really kissing and making out while Dracomon is watching TV...and not liking it. Right when they came in, they stopped kissing and saw them at the doorway. Shunji and Dracomon both raised his hand up at them.
"Hiya, kids! You're back!" Shunji exclaimed gleefully.
"Nice to see you again!" Dracomon said as he greeted them.
"Umm...hi?" Yun said. Shunji leaped off of the couch and dragged everyone inside.
"Hey! Is it true you guys have been fightin' some Digimon lately? No fair! I wish I was there!" Shunji complained.
"Sorry?" Yun muttered. Dracomon looked up at them with a slightly sad face.
"Sorry I couldn't help you with fighting those Digimon. I got real sick and had to stay home," Dracomon said.
"It's quite alright. It wasn't your fault," Lopmon told him reassuringly.
Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard. Shunji recognized the sound as it came from his cell phone, which is in his pocket. He pulled it out, flipped it open, and began talking on it, but not before telling the others to stay in the living room.
"I'll be back! I gotta take this," Shunji told them with a smile as he walked into the other room and talked to whoever it was on the phone.
Seeing that they're all alone with Ayaka, Yun and the others attempted to make like bugs and flee the living room before she could explode at them in a towering rage. Unfortunately, they didn't get to escape, as Ayaka managed to catch up to them and slap Yun in the face. Everyone gasped.
"HEY! What did you do that for?" Terriermon yelped angrily.
"YOU LOW-LIFE PIECE OF TRASH! You just HAD to walk in while me and Shunji were having our fun! You must LOVE ruining my life and making sure all my chances at getting what I want are blown to pieces!" Ayaka screamed angrily.
"How were we supposed to know you were making out?" Yun exclaimed.
"Don't try to weasel your way out of this, you brat! You interrupted our moment! Now he's in the other room because of you!" Ayaka yelled again, showing absolutely no mercy and not letting Yun leave. Thankfully, someone came in to save her.
"Ayaka! Stop it right now!" Hisako stepped in between the two of them and looked at Ayaka angrily. "You don't need to make such a big deal out of something so little! She didn't know! Stuff like this happens!"
"Quit making her look like the victim, Mom! She broke off our kiss on purpose! She's trying to ruin my romance with Shunji every chance she gets! She wants to ruin the one thing I love!"
"No she's not! Just calm down, Ayaka! I'll have dinner ready in a minute, so why don't we just-"
"See? Now you're trying to weasel your way out of this! Don't you get it? She's-"
"Ayaka-chan!" Shunji literally leaped onto Ayaka and gave her a big, cheerful bear hug. "That phone call I got just now was stupid. But I know for a fact that you'll cheer me up!"
Ayaka suddenly shed her anger and smiled at him. Yun sighed with relief and was about to escape, but then the phone rang.
Ring ring ring ring ring
"I'll get it!" Yun exclaimed as she ran to get the phone. She picked it up and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Yun-chan?" A low but sweet voice answered her. Yun recognized it immediately.
"Aria-chan! Hi! What's up?" Yun asked.
"The play...it's been cancelled. My teacher called and told me," Aria said sadly on the other line. Yun's smile immediately faded.
"Huh? It's been cancelled? Ouch," Yun said. "I really wanted to see you perform. I even got permission from my parents."
"Yeah. Sorry. But...it's not just that. It's WHY it got cancelled that I'm so sad!" Yun could tell that Aria was starting to cry.
"What's wrong?"
"That battle with the fiery butterfly Digimon we had just now...it's on TV! Yun-chan! They said two little kids from my school died because of it!"
Yun felt as though she were about to drop the phone any minute. Two little kids died because of Shadramon going on a rampage? She couldn't believe this was happening.
"Uhh...thanks for letting me know. Bye," Yun muttered and hung up the phone. Then she bolted into the living room, turned on the news, and waited for some news story regarding it. Dracomon, Lucero, and Lopmon all noticed and became curious.
"What's wrong?" Dracomon asked.
Finally, it appeared. On channel six's Evening News At Six. A lady dressed in orange is standing in front of the remains of a house that had been destroyed because of Shadramon.
"I'm here on 68th Avenue at the scene where the destruction took place. You're not going to believe what just happened. Some fires suddenly appeared out of nowhere and set various houses ablaze. This is one of them. Unfortunately, this is also the place were two young children, both aged seven, died in the blaze. Their families asked that their identities be withheld for safety reasons. Their families are with us right now," The newslady said. The next scene showed a mother crying and mourning for her child, and a neighbor talking about how he tried to save them but couldn't because the fire was much too strong. "But what's the odd thing about what happened? It's about what CAUSED the fires! Eyewitnesses say that a giant fire monster flew around town, shooting flames at anything it laid eyes on. More monsters appeared and stopped it from causing more destruction. Here's some footage that an eyewitness gave us."
The footage showed the Digimon trying to subdue Shadramon, namely Shadramon trying to push through Angemon's Holy Rod and being soaked by Lekismon's Moon Night Bomb. But that wasn't why Yun and the others were frozen in place. They were too late. Two little kids died because of Shadramon and they didn't even notice! They couldn't save them! How could they be so oblivious and unaware of this? Yun suddenly felt strong feelings of guilt and pain overwhelm her. As the news story finally ended, she ran into her room and cried onto her bed. Lopmon, Terriermon, Cutemon, Lucero, and Dracomon all chased after her and found her lying on her bed screaming and crying.
"Yun! Why doth thou cry so? Please calm thyself!" Lucero pleaded.
"I can't believe it! Two little kids died because we were lazy and didn't take care of Shadramon in time! It's all our fault! We should've noticed! We should've been able to save them but NOOOOO! How could I be so stupid and retarded?" Yun wailed as she continued to cry in her pillow. Lopmon hopped on her back and gently stroke her hair.
"Yun. I'm sad too, but I think this happened before we were informed about Shadramon's rampage. I don't think there was anything we could do. We did manage to stop him from doing more damage," Lopmon told her.
"No! No no no! We should've saved those kids! We should've put out those fires! We should've been able to save them! We should never have hidden from the public!" Yun screamed.
"I don't think it'd matter anyway. The news story said that the house where those kids died was REALLY far away from where you guys say you were fighting Shadramon. I don't think you could've made it in time to save them anyhow," Dracomon said.
"BUT WE SHOULD'VE TRIED TO SAVE THEM ANYWAY!" Yun cried. They could tell that she was inconsolable. Not only that, someone else wasn't helping matters.
"Get in here before dinner gets cold, you brat!" Ayaka screamed angrily.
Yun didn't want dinner. Lucero and Lopmon decided not to have some either. They stayed with her. Terriermon wanted to stay with her too, but he got hungry so he ate dinner (much to Ayaka's infuriation). Hisako could tell that Yun is clearly upset with something, and that once Yun is upset, she will NOT get over it (even though she keeps on expecting her to do so). Finally, after a few hours, Yun calmed down and had dinner. But she went back to her room. Oddly enough, Shunji came in and kneeled next to her.
"You're still upset?" Shunji asked. Yun didn't say anything, but he could tell that was a yes.
"Yun-chan. You know we can't save everyone," Shunji told her.
"So? I want to save everyone! Who cares if I can't do it right or if I'm useless or if I'm a problem for everyone? I would've saved those kids in a heartbeat if I knew what was happening!" Yun yelled.
"Hey. Do you remember that horrible earthquake that happened two months ago?" Shunji asked.
"That one? Yeah, I do. I actually felt it when I woke up that morning," Yun replied.
"I looked it up as part of a school assignment once. About 16,000 people died, almost 6,000 injured, and over 3,000 people are confirmed missing. Nobody could save them. No normal human can save that many people. It was inevitable," Shunji told her somberly.
"That's a natural disaster! Nobody can save anyone from something like that! But TWO little kids died just now! TWO! I could've saved them even if my secret got out!" Yun yelled.
"I know you would've. I would have liked to save them too. But the reality is, we weren't informed of it in time, and we couldn't save them. It happens to a lot of people and, being as human as we are, we often don't notice these things. I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, but even if you try hard, you won't save everyone. I know that better than anyone," Shunji said. "You can't fix something that's broken or dead beyond repair."
He stood up and left the room, leaving Yun alone. Lucero, Cutemon, Terriermon, and Dracomon came back to console her, even though she continued to cry. Shunji looked down at the rug with a somber look on his face, something that's quite unusual for him.
'Sorry, Yun-chan. It happens. You can't save everyone. I can't save anyone either, especially not the person I love who keeps on rejecting my offers to save her,' Shunji thought bitterly. He felt the sting of guilt too, but for a different reason entirely. He closed his eyes and pictured a woman being beaten by an irate and choleric man, with Shunji trying to save her but not being able to. Finally, he was pulled out of his reverie by Dracomon.
"Shunji? What's wrong?" Dracomon asked curiously.
"Nothing," Shunji replied.
"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"
Shunji looked down bitterly. "Yes. I am."
"You're not gonna give up on her, are you? She needs you."
"I know that. But every time I try to take her away from that horrid wretch, she keeps making up these flimsy excuses for why she has to stay with him! Who cares about that?"
"Don't give up, Shunji. I'm sure she'll realize that it's too dangerous to stay with him."
"Yeah. You're right. I've still got some tricks up my sleeve."
After a while, Shunji and Dracomon left the Wakamiya house and went back home. Yun cried herself to sleep despite Lucero, Lopmon, Cutemon, and Terriermon's efforts to console and mollify her. They got tired and fell asleep as well. What a way to end a school week. But it did give Yun an idea of how to start the weekend. Yun noticed that the little blue, purple, and yellow flowers are beginning to sprout in huge numbers in the back yard. She could pick a voluminous amount of them and take them to the site where the two little kids died. It wouldn't be much, but it would be better than nothing, and this could be the least Yun could do to at least put her own mind at ease and show that she does care about them, and say how sorry she is for not being able to save them. It was Terriermon who discovered her plan. At 7:00 AM in the morning, he saw Yun getting dressed early, brushing her teeth early, putting her shoes and socks on, DVRing an episode of Pokemon, going out into the back yard, and picking flowers. Terriermon followed her.
"Yun? What are you doing?" Terriermon asked innocently.
"Picking flowers. We're gonna go on a trip today!" Yun exclaimed.
"A trip?...Oh! To that place?" Terriermon asked.
"Yep. That place," Yun said.
"Let me guess: you're gonna pick lots and lots of flowers and place them there in hopes that the dead kids will see them from Heaven?" Terriermon said. Yun nodded kindly at him.
"That's so nice, Yun. I'm happy for you," Terriermon told her with a smile.
"I still feel bad for not noticing and not being able to save them in time, but I can at least do this much," Yun said as she wrapped all of the little flowers in a white napkin and tied it with a red bow. Yun then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it. It's a letter to the dead kids. It read:
Dear Two Little Kids Who Are In Heaven,
I'm very sorry I couldn't save you, or notice the fire in time. Me and my friends did help take care of the monster who did it, but I was too late to save you two. I'm so sorry! You had so much to live for yet had to die because of my negligence! But I did bring you some nice flowers. You probably won't be able to smell them or hold them, or read this letter, but I hope you'll be happy in Heaven. It must be a very beautiful and wonderful place. I wish I could bring you back, but I can't, and neither can all of humanity. This may not be much, but I hope it's at least better than nothing. Please watch over your families, friends, and loved ones and bless them from Heaven.
With Love,
Anonymous
She knew for a fact that they wouldn't be able to read it, but she wrote it anyway. Lopmon and Lucero caught on and read it. Lopmon almost broke into tears.
"Oh! What a kind, selfless, wonderful, and noble thing you're doing, Yun! I'm so proud of you!" Lopmon whimpered as she tried to calm herself down.
"It might not be enough," Yun said.
"I'm sure it will be. Thy pure kindness and caring heart are surely enough to show those who have passed on that thou care," Lucero told her kindly. At around 7:30 AM, they walked out of the house, but not before Lucero left a note.
Hisako and Teruki,
We went to the part of town where the kids died. We're going to pay our respects. We'll be back soon!
It took a little while for them to reach it since it was so far away, but they did get to see some nice scenery. They saw some nice and colorful houses (excluding the ones that got destroyed by Shadramon), some beautiful and lush gardens, and some animals running around, like birds, squirrels, and rabbits. They saw a stray cat walking by, but Yun didn't pet it. Normally, when Yun would see an animal, she would pet it without hesitation much to Hisako's dismay. But now, the cat wasn't important. She needed to pay her respects to the two little kids who died, and that's what she's going to do.
After a while, they arrived at the place. The house was still destroyed, with the remains and bricks all over the place, but they did see something there that wasn't there before. They saw a small tree covered with pink blossoms planted in a red pot with soil in it, which was placed on the side walk. Surrounding it are lots of teddy bears, stuffed animals, flowers, toys, candlewicks, and signs in multifarious colors. Some signs read 'God, Please Bless Yoshino and Ishin!' and other things. Yun could see that a lot of love and care was put into making this. But she did see something else. Something, or someone, she did NOT want to see: Nayuki. Both Nayuki and Tsukaimon, staring down at it from about five feet away with a look full of scorn and contempt.
"What's SHE doing there?" Terriermon asked.
"I don't know, but it can't be good," Yun whispered. They kept their voices down so Nayuki wouldn't hear them. Thankfully, they didn't hear them. But what she did made everyone so appalled that they couldn't believe that anyone would be so cruel as to do such a thing.
Nayuki spat at the vigil, and then knocked over the tree, breaking the pot and sending it to the ground.
"What a bunch of fools these people are, thinking that those kids deserve something as foolish and meaningless as this! They should know better than to mourn the dead! It doesn't do you any good at all!" Nayuki cried out angrily. "All these stuffed animals, all these stupid flowers, all these worthless and thoughtless signs telling God to bless them! What a big, fat joke! These people are all arrogant!"
"Do you want me to destroy it?" Tsukaimon asked. Nayuki pushed some of her jet black hair out of her face.
"Hmph. Do what you want. I don't care," Nayuki said.
"I'm gonna do it anyway!" Tsukaimon exclaimed as he prepared to attack the vigil.
Terriermon suddenly stormed out of the bushes in anger. Yun quickly gave the flowers and the letter to Lucero.
"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon spun himself around and hit Tsukaimon, sending him to the ground and successfully stopping him from attacking and vandalizing the vigil. Tsukaimon got up and saw Terriermon and the others looking at him with choleric eyes.
"Tch! It's you idiots again!" Tsukaimon spat.
"Haven't you meddled in our business enough already?" Nayuki asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"What's up with you? You're seriously allowing your Digimon to attack all of these nice things? You should know better than to vandalize something like this in cold blood! These are for the kids who died last night! Who are you to just barge in and even think about destroying it?" Yun yelled angrily, disgusted by Nayuki's blatant and barely disguised contempt and iniquity.
"Putting a bunch of inanimate objects in front of a destroyed house isn't going to do anything. That only shows how cowardly and arrogant you people are," Nayuki spat back.
"So? Okay, yes, it ISN'T really going to do anything, but putting all of these things together for someone who's fallen...it shows that we care for them and wish them well in Heaven! So what if they don't REALLY do anything? We're just trying to pay our respects and share our condolences and offer our prayers!" Yun yelled. Nayuki spat again.
"Respects. Condolences. Prayers. Those are worthless and meaningless words! They serve no purpose except to falsify people's true intentions for caring about someone!" Nayuki muttered, then shouted.
"Why would you even think that?"
"I've had about enough of this kissy-kissy goo-goo talk! Tsukaimon, take them down and show no mercy!"
Tsukaimon flew toward Terriermon and Lopmon, who prepared themselves for battle.
"Sonic Wing!"
Tsukaimon shot eerie, glowing purple crescent shapes at them.
"Double Typhoon!"
Terriermon and Lopmon combined their tornado attacks into one and not only nullified Tsukaimon's attack, but managed to break through it and land a hit on him, causing him to fall to the ground! The kids could only watch as the Digimon fought each other.
"Can we move this battle somewhere else?" Yun asked. "I don't want any of the attacks to hit the items put here."
"Oh, so you care more about inanimate objects placed on a sidewalk serving no purpose than winning a battle against me?" Nayuki yelled, disgusted by Yun's concern about the objects placed there.
"If people see us here, they're going to put us in jail and accuse us of vandalizing this place!"
"So? Personally I'd love it if you were put in jail, because someone like you doesn't deserve to walk this Earth!"
That did it. But not for Yun, but for someone else. The Digimon immediately stopped fighting as they witnessed what transpired.
SLAP!
Lucero, totally overcome with anger, not only slapped Nayuki in the face so hard that her nose actually bled (how he managed to cause a nose bleed with just one hit, nobody knew nor could figure out), he also grabbed Nayuki's arm with an iron grip, and flipped her over his shoulder karate style! Nayuki fell on the asphalt, causing part of her shirt to rip. But even she was stunned by what's going on and by the face that Lucero is bearing right now: ABSOLUTE RANCOR AND ANGER. Now HE was showing HER no mercy. Tsukaimon trembled as he watched Lucero give Nayuki an even scarier death stare than the one he got when they first met.
"DON'T EVER CLAIM A PERSON SHOULD NEVER WALK ON THIS EARTH, THOU UNGRATEFUL AND HEARTLESS KNAVE!" Lucero screamed so loud, it actually echoed! He screamed louder than he did at the parking lot where they first met Witchmon. Lucero balled his fists. "I don't know what you went through, why you're like this, or why you've adopted this lifestyle...but I will say this: I will NEVER, EVER tolerate you EVER saying such heartless things about ANYONE! Especially something so cruel as that! A person should be condemned and killed JUST for walking on this Earth? You're officially heartless beyond all help, Ichinose! You don't give a durn about anyone but yourself! You get ticked off at the littlest things! You mistreat kids your own age, big kids, little kids, adults, and your own Digimon! You're always claiming someone has ulterior motive for something, even for being nice and kind! You claim that any act of kindness is just a fabrication that won't do anything for anyone, but let me tell you this: you destroying everything and mistreating people as you please isn't going to do you any good at all! Ironic, isn't it! You probably think you're better than everyone else, but just because you happen to have a Digimon and just because you happen to hate the whole universe for some unfathomable reason, that does NOT mean you have to be a heartless knave and treat everything and everyone around you like garbage! Don't think you're so smart, and you do NOT, I repeat, YOU DO NOT SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO ANYONE!"
Everyone was frozen in place. Lucero finally stopped going on his epic tirade, and it was now eerily and ominously silent. Yun closed her eyes and covered her ears tightly, not wanting to hear what Lucero just said, even though he's standing up for her and defending her honor. Tsukaimon didn't bother to continue fighting Lopmon and Terriermon because Lucero's tirade drained all the energy and motivation out of him. Nayuki didn't move because she was so surprised at how far she pushed this kid. Finally, after five whole minutes of silence and absolutely no movement, Nayuki stood up, wiped the blood off of her face, and hoisted Tsukaimon up by the wing with her hand.
"Come on, Tsukaimon. We're leaving this dump," Nayuki muttered bitterly. She and Tsukaimon finally left. Lucero looked at the items, walked over to them, and very gently pulled the tree back up. Seeing that the pot is broken, he made sure to put it up in a position where it won't break again. Thankfully, only a small part of the pot broke, and the soil didn't come pouring out, so the pot managed to stand up and hold out. Yun arranged the dolls and toys so they could look nice and neat, and Lucero gently placed the small bouquet of flowers in front of the stuffed animals.
"Who would be so cruel as to claim all of this doesn't mean anything?" Lopmon asked.
"I agree, kyu. It's not right, kyu," Cutemon muttered.
"I can't let this go. She has to be punished for this," Yun said.
"That is true. We cannot her get away with what she did. But exactly what should we do?" Lucero said. Suddenly, a man came walking up to the vigil on the sidewalk and noticed the broken pot.
"Oh lord! What in the world happened here?" The man yelped, appalled by the state of the tree and the pot. Yun found an idea, and she spilled it out in the open as soon as she thought it.
"Sir, I hate to bother you, but we saw a high school girl kicking the pot and spitting on the stuffed animals just now! We tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen and just walked away!" Yun explained. The Digimon were frozen in place.
"You don't say! Did you catch her name or what she looked like? I'll report her to the police if you want," The man said.
"Yes, we have it all," Yun said. Without any hesitation, she gave the man all the information on Nayuki she had. She didn't try to cover for her or anything like that. She felt that Nayuki deserves some form of punishment for what she did and that she can't get away with it. It's a good thing the man had a pen and paper on him. He wrote everything down.
"Thanks for yer help, kids. I'll handle everything here. Why don't you all go back home? I'm sure your parents are worried about you," The man said.
"You're welcome, sir," Yun said. She and Lucero left while the man looked at the vigil.
"My word! How could anyone be so heartless as to do such a thing? I sure ain't gonna let this slide!" The man muttered.
It wasn't until five minutes later that Lopmon noticed someone was missing.
"Huh? Where's Terriermon?" Lopmon asked.
She, Yun, Cutemon, and Lucero looked all around, but no sign of Terriermon.
"You're right! He's not here, kyu!" Cutemon exclaimed.
"You don't think...maybe the man who kidnapped Lopmon has Terriermon too?" Yun exclaimed, suddenly feeling an all out panic attack about to come on, but Lucero put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't jump to conclusions just yet, Yun. We'll find him," Lucero told her gently.
So, the two kids and Digimon looked for Terriermon. What they didn't know was that Terriermon was...following Nayuki.
Like how Salamon did, Terriermon secretly followed Nayuki to an old, forlorn, forsaken house that's in total disrepair. It looked as though it could collapse at any moment. Windows were broken, glass pieces are everywhere, and the grass is REALLY tall. It looked like nobody had mowed it for a long time. He made sure to stay hidden so that Nayuki or Tsukaimon wouldn't spot him. He hid underneath one of the broken windows to hide from their sight...but he was not able to hide from what he would see and hear in the next few minutes.
Nayuki came right into the room, threw Tsukaimon against the wall, screamed wildly, and began hitting him and kicking him. She screamed like a wild animal craving for food. Terriermon couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew from Salamon's story that she abused him and was quite volatile, but now that he's actually seeing it, now he knows that Salamon was right! Nayuki not only mistreats everything and everyone around her, but she beats and abuses her own Digimon! Possibly on a regular basis! Terriermon could see the pain in Tsukaimon's eyes. He didn't want to sit and watch anymore. He had to do something...and he took the mighty plunge.
"Bunny Blast!" He bombarded Nayuki with a myriad of green lights shooting from his mouth. Once he managed to blind her, he grabbed Tsukaimon, put him over his head (while being mindful of his horn), and flew out of the house in a flash. Nayuki regained her composure and watched as Terriermon used his ears to fly away while Tsukaimon was on his head.
"COME BACK HERE!" Nayuki screamed as she hopped out the window and gave chase. After a while, Terriermon descended to the ground and ran for it. Tsukaimon proved to slow him down a little, but Terriermon couldn't bear to leave him. After another while, he finally ran into Yun and the others.
"Terriermon! Where were you?" Lopmon yelped.
"And...why do you have Tsukaimon on your head?" Yun asked.
"Salamon was right! That Nayuki girl IS abusing Tsukaimon! I saw it and I took him away as fast as I could!" Terriermon exclaimed as he handed Tsukaimon to Yun.
"WHAT?" They all exclaimed, but Yun couldn't help but notice that there were some other voices intertwining with their own just now. Yun turned to look and much to her surprise, there's Minako, Nyaromon, Kosuke, Patamon, Isao, and Bearmon right next to her!
"Whoa! What are you all doing here?" Yun exclaimed.
"We were gonna visit that place and pay our respects to those kids," Isao said.
"Yeah. We heard about what happened," Bearmon told her.
"So...you saw her do it, huh?" Nyaromon asked sadly.
"You bet I did! It was horrible!" Terriermon replied. Suddenly Tsukaimon began squirming out of Yun's arms, but she managed to keep him under control.
"Let me go!" Tsukaimon yelped angrily.
"No!" Yun retorted.
"I said let me go!"
"No! What she's doing to you is wrong!"
"Yeah! Don't you hate her for it?" Patamon exclaimed.
"Uh oh! Look!" Minako exclaimed. Everyone turned their heads to see Nayuki running up the street and finally catching up to them.
"Give him to me!" Nayuki sneered.
"No! He's not your personal punching bag! You leave him alone!" Yun yelled, trying to keep Tsukaimon away from her. Suddenly, Nayuki lunged at her.
"Yun!" Everyone else except Kosuke cried out and tried to pull Nayuki off of her.
"Give him to me! He's mine!"
"No! You're not getting him!"
Nayuki scratched at her like a wild animal, trying to get Tsukaimon back. Thankfully, Minako and Bearmon managed to hold her back. Lopmon took the liberty of freezing her feet with her attack so she wouldn't escape. Normally she would never do this, but this time, she felt she had to. Despite Tsukaimon's struggling, Yun clung to him with all her might.
"You have no right to mistreat your Digimon like this! Look what you've done to him? Don't you feel any remorse at all?" Yun screamed.
"He's MY Digimon, and what I do with him is none of your business, you brat!" Nayuki screamed back.
"We witnessed a crime, so that makes it my business!"
"Give him back NOW!"
"Over my dead body!"
Suddenly, Kosuke kicked Yun's arms!
"Oww!" Yun yelped in pain, so much that she let go of Tsukaimon, who flew to Nayuki's side.
"Evil Fire!" Tsukaimon shot a fireball at Nayuki's feet, making the ice go away.
"Kosuke! Why'd you do that?" Patamon yelled.
"Hm. Now we leave," Nayuki said as she grabbed Tsukaimon and left. Everyone looked at Kosuke angrily.
"What's wrong with you? Why'd you kick Yun?" Terriermon yelled.
"So Tsukaimon could go back to Nayuki," Kosuke said.
"But Kosuke! She's abusing him!" Yun exclaimed.
"He doesn't need your false pity, Wakamiya! This is another thing I hate the most about you! You're always meddling in people's business and sticking your nose in places where you're clearly not needed or wanted! Stop trying to make yourself look good!" Kosuke yelled.
"Hey! Don't yell at her! She was just trying to help!" Isao retorted.
"She shouldn't get away with something like this!" Lopmon exclaimed.
"But we have no right to stop her! If Tsukaimon doesn't want our help, then he doesn't want our help! That's it! Can't you people take a hint? Especially you, Wakamiya! You ALWAYS do this! You always jump into someone else's situation and try to be the hero, but the reality is you can't do anything! You never listen to their opinions and you're always trying to force them to follow your beliefs!" Kosuke yelled.
"I DO NOT!" Yun yelled.
"Kosuke! You don't get it! What Nayuki's doing is wrong and she needs to be stopped! How would you feel if someone kidnapped Patamon and abused him?" Nyaromon exclaimed angrily as she hopped out of Minako's arms.
"That's right! What WOULD you do? Would you jump in and save me, or would you leave me?" Patamon backed up Nyaromon's claim. Kosuke found himself unable to answer. Suddenly, he turned and decided to leave.
"Come on, Patamon! Let's go!" Kosuke exclaimed as he left, but Patamon didn't follow him. Isao looked up at Yun, who looks as though she's going to cry any minute. He slipped a hand in hers and held onto it.
"You okay?" Isao asked innocently.
"Yes. I'm fine," Yun muttered.
"You were awesome back there. I don't think you're a bad person. Wanting to help someone...my mom says that's a nice thing to do. If someone was in trouble, I'd want to help them even if they say they don't need help," Isao told her. "My dad says you should never turn your back on someone who's in danger and needs help."
"But Kosuke..."
"He's wrong. You're not a bad person. I don't think you are, and whoever does is stupid!"
Although Lopmon silently lauded Yun for her bravery and chivalry, she gave Terriermon a rather stern glance.
"Terriermon! Why did you jump in and try to save Tsukaimon? I know you had good intentions, but you could've gotten us in big trouble!" Lopmon scolded.
"She was hurting him and beating him! I had to do something! I didn't want to watch that horrible scene anymore so I stepped in!" Terriermon explained.
"I laud you for your chivalry, but you have to think about what will happen if she found out!" Lopmon said.
"There wasn't any time to think!" Terriermon reasoned, though Lopmon didn't seem to buy it. Minako put a hand on Yun's shoulder.
"Yun. It's okay. I love this part of you. You're always thinking of others and you always listen to other people's opinions. Kosuke's just overexaggerating and letting his angst get to his head," Minako told her.
"But what he said-"
"No no. Don't give us that. You did fine."
The kids and Digimon talked amongst themselves for a while. But the only Digimon who wasn't involved with the discussion was Nyaromon, who looked up at a big tree wistfully and sadly, ruminating and losing herself to her thoughts.
'I wonder if LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon went through the same pain when they were little? I don't know what they went through, but I'm sure it must have been rough. I wonder if they remember what it means to really live and find peace and solace in the little things? I still need to teach Mina-chan that, yes, but...can I really be a guardian angel? To Mina-chan or to LadyDevimon and the two BlackGatomon? I know they must have their reasons for doing what they do, but it doesn't justify what they are doing. The same goes for Nayuki for what she's doing to poor Tsukaimon. But...can anyone find peace?' Nyaromon thought.
Thankfully, by a great miracle, both Nyaromon, Minako, LadyDevimon, and the two BlackGatomon were going to find their answer.