EPISODE 55: The Chains Keep Him Earthbound
Other than Salamon, who back then was YukimiBotamon when she went, none of the Digimon partnered with the Digimon Brigade had ever gone to school before. Lopmon and Terriermon did to an extent, but the closest they've seen and been to was the blacktop, and not under the very best circumstances either. No Digimon had ever been inside Fushimi Middle School until now. Seeing as there was no other option for them, Yun, Melody, Kosuke, and Otoya kept their Digimon in their bags in secret, hiding them from the rest of the kids and making sure nobody outside of the Digimon Brigade caught sight of them, kids and teachers alike. Minako, Rena, Riku, and Hokuto were the only ones who found out, and it must be confessed that they were all quite shocked about it, but after hearing about the situation, they sighed and decided to help them keep the in-training Digimon a secret. Riku did, however, throw in some final words.
"And you wonder why I never go to the Digital World before school. To think I always thought I did stupid things!" Riku said to them rather bluntly, not happy with the fact that the Digimon are now in Fushimi Middle School. It wasn't as though Riku was very choleric with them and told them off. He was just disappointed since Yun was the one who enforced the rule that prohibited anyone from finding out about the Digimon unless their discovery was accidental, in the case of Yun's family. Yun figured this would happen though. Kosuke cursed himself for even thinking of the idea, but it's too late to angst about it now, so the four of them had to make do. They did, however, feel confident about today's test and hoped that their digital studying paid off. Another good thing is that nobody discovered the Digimon. It must be confessed that some of the kids and teachers did interrogate Kosuke, Melody, and Otoya about their injuries. Even though they didn't want to lie, they knew they had to, so they did, with varying excuses.
"I fell off my bike," Kosuke said, remembering the old red bike that his father got for him for his tenth birthday, which they had to sell in order to pay for some food and clothes. Nobody outside of his family knew this, however.
"I ran my arm against a cinder block while practicing karate. It didn't quite go well, as you can see," Melody said without one hint of remorse. She looked like the type who could lie her way out of anything considering how sour and moody she looks on a regular basis, but Melody is actually quite honest. It's just not in the best context.
"I was helping my sister cook, and I cut myself with a knife by accident," Otoya said. She felt the most guilty about lying about her injury, but she knew she had to in order to protect the Digimon.
Luckily for them, both teachers and kids actually believed them and let them go. Kosuke, Otoya, and Melody were relieved that they actually bought their stories, though they still felt bad about it. In a way, they could see that the kids and teachers who interrogated the three of them looked quite suspicious and didn't believe them totally. Adults have a way of knowing when a child is lying most of the time. Sometimes they just don't really care or fail to take notice. Nonetheless, they managed to get through the rest of the day. Not unscathed, however. Nenji and his friends acted up in art class again, throwing supplies and splattering paint over people and making various kids cry. Nenji made fun of Tomoka for having braces again, to which she did not take well. What surprised them, however, was something new that happened at school recently. Apparently, according to Mrs. Kamogawa, the school's budget has been cut, so they had to shut down music class. As a result, Mr. Okui got fired, which made not only Yun but many children absolutely ecstatic. Some even cheered loudly and jumped for joy. But the school had to shut down health class also, which resulted in Mr. Kanazawa being laid off, which made some kids sad. As a result, history class has begun. Even new text books arrived, and the teacher, Mr. Kazanari, is a very nice young man, with a head full of fluffy pale brown hair, stunning green eyes like Yun, and a very sensible and gentle demeanor. Yun found herself loving history not just because of Mr. Kazanari, but because of the fact that all members of the Digimon Brigade are sharing it with her! No Nenji or Seiko or their clique members in sight! Yun knew for sure that everything was going to be great in history.
But it was the Digimon who were the most surprised. Cutemon went back home after the bell rang since she would be easily noticed, and Yokomon mostly remained outside, so it was just Kokomon, Gummymon, Tokomon, and Xiaomon who hid in their partners' bags, watching everything happen around them as the day went by. They were quite surprised. This gave them a great opportunity to see what their partners' typical school days are like, and boy were they surprised beyond their wildest dreams! They got to see first hand the lessons that the kids are taught, the kids outside of the Digimon Brigade, and what they deal with on a regular basis. Of course, they were quite appalled upon seeing the very ribald and egregious behavior of Nenji and his two friends and the catty Seiko and her clique. Thankfully, they kept themselves silent and hidden very tactfully so Nenji, Seiko, and their friends (or anyone outside of the Digimon Brigade in general) wouldn't see them, which proved to be successful. During lunch, the kids gave some of their food to the Digimon so they wouldn't be hungry. Since Yun brings a lunch box (NOT a bento box) to school every day, Kokomon and Gummymon relished the food, while Tokomon and Xiaomon weren't totally impressed with the cafeteria food, but it is better than nothing at all, so they ate what they were given. Not only that, like everyone else, they were intimidated by Mr. Kadota (Yun, Melody, Otoya, and Kosuke didn't lock the Digimon in their lockers and let them run about a little. They all hid behind the bleachers, which had been set up for something that came later) and his sort of militaristic ways, though even they had to admit he's MUCH better than Mr. Okui, who they haven't met but heard of because of the kids talking about him, and from the way Mr. Okui sounded, they'd take Mr. Kadota any day.
Finally, after some more classes, the bell rang once, and all the kids in school flooded out of the building. The Digimon Brigade met up with each other and decided to walk home. Yokomon returned to Melody and hopped into her arms happily.
"Wow. I had no idea this is what you go through every day, Otoya," Xiaomon told her as he sat contentedly in her warm, loving arms.
"Well, we kind of have to. It's the law," Otoya replied.
"That Nemoto kid is a lot fatter than I imagined him to be. He's pretty mean, isn't he?" Tokomon said.
Kosuke and Riku all rolled their eyes. "You're telling us!" They said in perfect unison, which made Rena chuckle a little.
"So I take it your injuries are because of some Digimon brouhaha that happened?" Rena asked kindly.
"Yes! Oh, you should have seen it! We were studying so quietly when these two Digimon named Boogeymon and Phantomon attacked us out of nowhere! Not only that, they were hard to beat too, even with all the secondary Digimon that Melody and Otoya-chan managed to befriend!" Yokomon explained.
"Huh? You got more secondary Digimon?" Hokuto asked timidly.
"Yep! I got three while Mel-chan got two," Otoya said as she pulled out her three D-Chips and showed them to everyone.
"No way! FIVE D-Chips at once? Awww! No fair!" Riku complained.
"Well, I am glad you all are alright, though I wouldn't recommend doing this again," Minako told them.
"Yeah. I certainly learned my lesson. Note to self: if you ever want to go to the Digital World, do it after school!" Yun said.
"I don't think that's what she meant, but I think it counts," Kokomon said with a sweet smile.
"Why do you have to go to something as boring as school? It doesn't look very exciting," Gummymon said.
"I know. I don't really like school either, but I have to go. We all have to. It's the law. In this town, it's a grave offense to not allow a kid to go to school without a good reason," Yun explained.
Riku sighed. "I agree. As much as I hate school, I don't want to wind up in juvie. I have enough on my record, and none of it is even my fault to begin with! Besides, Mom would never let me skip school, even if I get sick!"
"You don't skip school, do you, Riku-san?" Xiaomon asked.
"Nah. I may be ADHD, but I'd NEVER go that far!...though other people think otherwise," Riku replied.
"That's not very nice, isn't it?" Gummymon asked.
"Nope! Not a bit!" Riku said empathetically. "I do have to admit though, I wish I could have gone with you to the Digital World. You guys must have had such an awesome adventure! Too bad me and Rena were grounded."
"For what?" Gummymon asked.
"Something stupid. Mom kept yelling at me for spilling my video game collection all over the living room after she cleaned it. It was an accident! I just wanted to play Final Fantasy XIII on my XBox and it was too deep in my collection! Not only that, she kept yelling at Rena for "setting a bad example and allowing me to do as I please" as she says. She didn't do anything wrong!" Riku explained.
"Ouch. Your mom must be really uptight," Yun said.
"She is. About every little thing. This one time, Mom cleaned the entire house, and Dad was watching TV while eating a bagel, and oh boy, you should have seen her flip out. It was just bizarre!" Riku explained again.
"Big ouch," Gummymon said.
"But you have to admit, mothers care about their children and want them to grow up into good citizens, so I'm sure your mother means well," Xiaomon said.
A pained look appeared on Riku's face. 'Yeah right. As if she'd ever care about me. All she cares about is making herself look good,' Riku thought rather bitterly. Rena looked at him with a concerned look on her face. She could tell what Riku was thinking. They are twins after all.
"Hey Yun? Did you tell Kosuke about the time his mom went to your house?" Kokomon said, which made literally everyone, even Kosuke, stop in their tracks with shocked faces.
"You're right! I totally forgot!" Yun told her two little blobby friends, then looked at Kosuke. "Kosuke-kun, sorry I forgot to tell you, but my mom told me that yesterday your mom came over my house!"
"Seriously? She did?" Otoya asked, holding onto Xiaomon like any protective mother would.
"Yep! I didn't see her though. I was out playing with Lopmon, Terriermon, and Lucero when it happened, but Mom said that she wanted to give me one of her My Little Pony toys. Mom said she told me to help you find freedom and spread your wings," Yun told Kosuke.
"Sounds like his D-Heart," Otoya said with a mischievous smile to Rena.
"Speaking of Lucero, where is he anyway? Why didn't he walk home with us?" Tokomon asked curiously.
"Mom and Dad scheduled another doctor's appointment for him. It's to see whether his skin is healing up and whether he's gotten any more of his memory back," Yun told him.
"Has he?" Hokuto asked.
"Not really. He said he has a vague memory of someone important to him, but he doesn't remember who it is or their name or anything like that," Yun replied.
Kosuke didn't say a word. He couldn't believe what Yun said was true. His own mother, the lifeless, careless, worthless, pitiful, unreliable, negligent, miserable, and hapless alcoholic who does nothing but drink, smoke cigarettes, lay around the house, and wallow in her self-pity, actually went to Yun's house and gave her one of her My Little Pony toys, even though they're so important to her? Kosuke nearly thought that Yun was talking about a completely different person. It must be confessed that even the nice things she DID do yesterday didn't change his heart about her. Yes, she paid the rent. Yes, she made dinner for once. Yes, she got him and Patamon some snacks. But Kosuke knew all too well that it wouldn't last. Yes, she could be sober sometimes, but only for very short times. One day she'll be cooking dinner, the next day she'll have Kosuke do it because she's too sick to do so. One day she'll be smiling happily and telling Kosuke to invite his friends over, the next day she'll growl at them and tell them to leave while waving a beer bottle at them in a paroxysm of anger. Kosuke absolutely hated this, and he was convinced that Kanako was never going to change no matter what. Oddly enough, all the kids walked to Kosuke's house, and something was odd about it. It was Yokomon who noticed.
"Huh? Kosuke-kun, you have guests," Yokomon told him.
Kosuke pulled himself out of his reverie and became quite surprised. There's two people in front of his house! A man and a woman. The man looks to be in his late 40's, with brown hair and hazel eyes, like Kosuke. He had on a short sleeved pale yellow shirt with some small pale blue stripes on it, brown khaki shorts, grey and black shoes, and tall white socks. His skin is rather dark, like he had been in the sun for quite a long while. The woman is a bit younger and thinner than him, with lots of beautifully curling dark blonde hair that caught the early summer sunlight and deep, luminous, dark brown eyes that seemed to smile. She had on a white blouse and a medium-length lavendar skirt, along with dark brown stockings and black shoes. Kosuke stood in awe, unable to speak.
"What's wrong?" Melody asked rather gruffly.
"Aunt Mei...Uncle Jiro," Kosuke muttered.
The couple caught sight of the kids and immediately beamed.
"Oh! Kosuke!" The two of them exclaimed happily. Kosuke got a hold of himself and ran over to them.
"Aunt Mei! Uncle Jiro!" Kosuke exclaimed back.
Everyone was stricken dumb. "WHAT? They're your aunt and uncle? I didn't think you had any other relatives!" Otoya exclaimed.
"I kinda knew. He said that they pay his bills every once in a while," Yun told her. Kosuke actually smiled a little when he saw them, and they smiled back.
"Kosuke! You've gotten tall!" The man, Jiro, said cheerfully.
"It's very nice to see you! Oh? I see you have friends," The woman, Mei, told him politely, smiling nicely.
"Yep! These are my good friends," He introduced every single one of them by name. Yun and Hokuto, being the shy and taciturn children that they are, didn't say anything. Mei and Jiro didn't mind.
"It's nice to meet you all," Mei and Jiro told them.
"So what are you two doing here? You haven't been here since before Dad left," Kosuke asked.
Mei and Jiro looked at each other with rather serious expressions. Not serious as in grim and dark. Kosuke could tell by the looks on their faces that this was quite serious indeed.
"Kosuke-kun. See, Mei and I...you know how we've been trying to look for a new house these past few months?" Jiro asked.
"Yeah. But you guys are rich, aren't you?" Kosuke said.
Mei chuckled a little. "Yes, that may be, but even rich people like a little change in scenery once in a while. Anyway, we managed to put down an offer on a house right in this very neighborhood."
Kosuke's eyes got big. "Wow? Seriously?"
"Now now. No need to get excited just yet. We haven't heard anything back from the real estate agent just yet," Jiro said holding his hands up so Kosuke can calm down a little. Now Jiro looked quite serious.
"Kosuke...we're sorry about what's been happening to you. We're sorry we haven't been able to do much for you even though we've been trying so hard. We want to ask you...if the chance comes that we get the house...would you like to...come live with us?" Jiro asked, sounding quite serious indeed.
Kosuke was stricken dumb again. His Aunt Mei and Uncle Jiro want Kosuke to come live with them? Once they get the new house? Kosuke couldn't believe any of this was even real. He felt as if he found the perfect opportunity. The chains that kept him earthbound are finally able to break, and he could fly away from the horrid conditions he's in and spread his wings to freedom! Even the kids seemed excited.
"Kosuke! You should say yes! You can be a little kid again and not have to take care of your mom!" Yun proclaimed, smiling happily.
"This is perfect for you! You should go for it!" Otoya suggested, beaming like the sun in the sky.
"Do it, Kosuke-kun! Do it! You won't have to deal with all the rum and the cigarettes and the smells anymore!" Riku cried out cheerfully.
"Now now. We don't have the house yet, and this is Kosuke's decision," Jiro told them, which managed to mollify them a little.
"Yeah. You're right. Sorry if we went kinda overboard," Rena told them with a smile.
Jiro put his hands on Kosuke's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Kosuke, you don't have to decide right now. We just thought we'd let you know. You should really think about this. You're more than welcome to tell us when you're ready."
When he's ready? By all accounts, Kosuke considered himself ready for anything. Anything except having to deal with Kanako for even a minute longer. He kept thinking about the great things that can happen if he were to live with Mei and Jiro. No more booze! No more cigarette butts all over the place! No more noisome and repulsive odors! No more cocky landlord! No more paying rent! No more cooking! No more cleaning! No more housekeeping! No more taking care of Kanako! No more having to deal with her drunk spells, hangovers, and bouts of self-pity! He can be a kid again! He pictured it all: himself smiling happily, playing with his friends, enjoying a nice, clean house with no rum in sight, a backyard to play around in, bike riding, skate boarding, poetry writing, and best of all: more time to both play with and take care of Patamon! Kosuke could finally grasp the freedom he had been yearning for so long. He yearned for freedom of all things, and this might have been his last chance to grab it and finally break away from the chains that kept him bound to the earth for so long! As far as Kosuke knew, he was NOT going to let this chance slip away from his hands. Kosuke so desperately wanted to say yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Unfortunately, to him, an unwanted guest bereaved him of the heavenly opportunity in the worst way possible.
"Mei? Jiro? Wha...what the heck are yer doin' here?"
It was Kanako. Totally drunk. Red in the face, unkempt hair, dark circles under her eyes, the dirty bath robe, occasional hiccups, a raspy voice, and a half empty beer bottle in her hand. All blatant harbingers of her state of mind as of now. All of heaven's glow dissipated when Kanako appeared outside the house. Kanako was on her knees, trying to stand up but failing miserably. Jiro ran over to her and tried to help her up.
"Kanako? My goodness, you drank yourself silly! Here, I'll-" Jiro tried to help her, but Kanako angrily swung the beer bottle at him, making him back away.
"Don't touch me, you idiot!" Kanako yelled in a raspy voice, causing all the kids to back away a bit.
"Wow. Now THAT is a drunk person right there," Melody whispered sarcastically to Yokomon, who looked very appalled and disgusted. Nobody noticed, however.
Kanako panted, looking very choleric. "I...I know why yer here. Yer tryin' to take my boy away! I ain't gonna let ya do that! Not on my watch!"
"Kanako! You need to stop this!" Mei importuned, grabbing Kanako by the arm. "You're not in any condition to take care of him. We just want to help. You need help too. We found a facility that specializes in helping alcoholics get back on their feet, so if you could just-"
Kanako swung the beer bottle at her too, but Mei successfully dodged it. "Seiichi talked you into doin' this, didn't he? You're trying to take away the only piece of happiness that I have, aren't you? I won't let you do that!"
"Seiichi has nothing to do with this! Kanako, you have to understand-" Jiro tried to reason with her, but Kanako just wasn't having it.
"Kosuke's MINE and mine alone, ya hear? Mine! He's MY property, not yours, so keep your grubby hands off of him! I'm the only thing he's got in this world and handin' him over to you will just make him turn sour!" Kanako nearly stumbled back to the ground, but she somehow managed to keep her balance despite how drunk she is.
Property? Kosuke was now beyond appalled. 'She thinks of me as...property? Nothing more?' Kosuke couldn't believe his ears. His mother just called him property, sounding as though she thinks of him as more of an object for her self-pity than a human being! Despite Kanako's ardent efforts, Jiro and Mei still tried to subdue her. Yun became frightened and covered her ears. Kokomon and Gummymon hopped on her head. No one noticed.
"Kanako! Look at yourself! You're in no condition to be taking care of a child!" Jiro told her frantically.
"Don't tell me what to do, you brainless idiots! Get out! GET OUT NOW, AND NEVER COME BACK!" Kanako screamed angrily, swiping that beer bottle at the two of them like she wanted to hit them with it. She didn't even give them time to take a breath or make a decision she just kept swinging that beer bottle at her. Riku and Melody both stepped in and grabbed onto the rabid Kanako.
"Quit it, lady! You'll hurt someone!" Riku proclaimed.
"The drink's frying your brain!" Melody yelled as she tried to pry the bottle out of Kanako's hand.
"I'll call the police!" Otoya exclaimed as she got her cell phone out and called the police.
"Get off of me, you mongrels!" Kanako yelled as she tried to pry Riku and Melody off of her, but like her, they were persistent and didn't give up.
"No way are we letting you run amok!" Riku told her sarcastically.
In the end, Jiro and Mei decided to leave after all, but not before leaving a few final words to Kosuke.
"You still have our number, right? Let us know when you're ready," Mei told him before they finally left.
When they were finally out of sight, Kanako finally calmed down. Riku and Melody both got off of her. Kanako panted and panted like she had been running a marathon.
"Nobody's...ever...gittin'...my boy. Nobody! I won't let anyone take him! Off with you, you stupid conspirators!" Kanako panted.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of it. Kosuke handed Tokomon to Hokuto, plodded up to Kanako, and...
WHAM!
"YEEEK!"
Kosuke actually punched her in the face and sent her to the ground! Both Rena and Yun yelped loudly as he did. Kanako stumbled back to the ground, looking up at Kosuke with a confused face. Everyone was shocked and appalled. Kosuke is looking down at her...absolutely choleric, with a face filled with absolutely nothing but rancor.
"I AM NOT YOUR PROPERTY!" Kosuke screamed louder than he ever had. Quite passionately, too. "This is why I hate you! And you wonder why I want to get away from you so bad! You keep trying to keep me away from the outside world! You always want me to be your prisoner! Well, get over it! I am NOT your slave, and I REFUSE to deal with trash like you any longer! I actually WANT to go with Aunt Mei and Uncle Jiro, because they can give me everything that you're too stupid to give me! You never cared about me! You only think of me as your personal nanny or nurse forced to take care of you for the rest of our lives! You wonder why Dad left, because he didn't want to deal with trash like you!"
"Kosuke! What a thing to say!" Tokomon yelled angrily, appalled by Kosuke's behavior. Everyone besides them were rendered speechless. Even Kanako was speechless, staring at him with wide eyes.
"You only wanted to make yourself look good yesterday, didn't you? You only made dinner and got me snacks and paid the rent so you can satisfy yourself, not act like a real parent for once! I should have known to never put my faith in a piece of garbage like you! You're the chains that keep me to the ground, and you keep me from flying! You're the reason I'm in this rat hole in the first place!"
"Kosuke! Shut up!" Rena screamed at him hysterically, but he didn't listen. He just continued on with his epic harangue.
"I hope you die or rot in jail or something, because someone like you doesn't deserve anything life has to offer! I HATE YOU!" Kosuke screamed angrily and dashed away.
"Kosuke-kun! Come back!" Minako chased after him. The other kids ran back home...except for Yun.
Despite how frightened she was, by both Kanako's drunk spell and Kosuke's very inopportune hatred, she couldn't help but feel bad for this woman. Kokomon and Gummymon too. Kanako was silent, sitting on her knees, staring at the ground with huge eyes. Yun could hear the faint yet ominous sounds of sirens heading this way, which prompted her to act. She kneeled in front of Kanako, who managed to get a good look at her once she did.
"Umm...Kanako-san?" Yun muttered softly, but made her voice lucid enough for Kanako to hear. Much to Kokomon and Gummymon's surprise, Yun is actually making eye contact with Kanako, someone she hasn't seen in a very long while! Kanako didn't flinch, nor did she lash out at her despite her totally drunk state right now.
"The toy you told Mom to give me...thank you. For giving it to me. I'll take good care of it," Yun told her with a smile, even though it was rather forced. Kanako lifted up her hand a little. It shook, but she managed to caress Yun's cheek with it. Normally, Yun would be frightened and back away, but she thought that if she backed away, Kanako would get mad, so she stayed where she was.
"Wa...ka...miya...Yun? Yun-chan?" Kanako muttered.
"Yeah. That's me," Yun replied softly again.
"Wow. You're...still...cute," Kanako told her.
Now this made Yun stand up in alarm. "Me? Cute? No way! I'm NOT cute at all!"
Suddenly, Kanako grabbed Yun's wrist. She didn't try to stand up, nor did Yun try to help her up.
"Yun-chan...I'm sorry...I'm such a mess. Do...Do me a favor, will ya?" Kanako croaked. "Please...take care of Kosuke. Help him fly. He needs to spread his wings."
Yun understood what she meant, but she felt she had to answer her back. "I'll...try. But you're his mom. Shouldn't you be the one to help him fly?"
Yun hoped in her heart that Kanako didn't take it the wrong way and fly into a passion. Thankfully, to her relief, she didn't. Yun didn't feel she was needed anymore so she left Kanako all alone as the police cars got closer. Yun was quite surprised that Kanako actually remembered her despite it being so long. Yun certainly remembered Kanako well, even though it was long ago. She remembered that Kanako used to be quite a cheerful, merry woman full of sunshine and warmth, with a pink and white daisy face and smiling eyes, though Yun could tell even back then that something was wrong. Yun never met Seiichi (To Kosuke, Yun is blessed to not have met him), since for some reason he was always never around whenever Kosuke invited friends to the house, so she didn't know what he was like, but she did feel that his leaving Kanako and Kosuke behind on no solid grounds was quite reprehensible.
Someone else, however, was beginning to think differently.
"Kosuke! Stop! Come back!"
Minako, Hokuto, and Tokomon both chased after an incensed and heartbroken Kosuke. After a long run, they stopped him at the train station. Despite being out of breath, Minako managed to catch up to him and grab him before he could run any further. Hokuto, with a very disappointed Tokomon in his arms, caught up with them soon after. Once they caught their breath, Kosuke tried to run away again, but Minako stopped him a second time.
"I know you're upset. Believe me, I know, but yelling at your mother isn't going to solve anything!" Minako scolded sternly.
"She's not my mother anymore! That woman only views me as her property and nothing more! You heard her say so! You were there just now! Now I see why Dad left, because she's become nothing but trash!" Kosuke yelled.
Tokomon leaped out of Hokuto's arms and actually bit Kosuke's leg.
"OWWW!" Kosuke yelped in pain as Tokomon bit his leg. Tokomon got off of him and looked at him quite angrily.
"You should never call someone trash! Every human being is special, though flawed!" Tokomon scolded.
"All she does is drink drink drink! She doesn't give a rat's hat about me or anyone else but herself! She only cares about how miserable and angsty she is! She does nothing but angst and wallow in her self pity every single day and leave me to fend for myself just so she can feel satisfied!" Kosuke yelled back.
"Oh REALLY? Then what about yesterday, when she paid the rent and cooked dinner and apologized to Mina-chan for mistreating her?" Tokomon yelped.
"None of it was real! She only did it to make herself feel good! She only did all that just so she could satisfy herself and nothing else! That's how she is and that's how she always will be!" Kosuke yelled.
"Now I get it. Kosuke, you're going to hate me for saying this, but I feel it has to be said here and now. Do you want to know what I'm going to say? Then here it is: you've turned into an exact replica of your father!" Tokomon screamed.
"I HAVE NOT!" Kosuke screamed back, incensed to have just been compared to his good for nothing father by his friend, his Digimon partner, of all people (or Digimon).
"Yes you have! Sure Kanako shouldn't treat you the way she does, and I'm sure she has her reasons for being the way she is, but that does NOT make it right for you to treat her the way you did! You're so much better than this, Kosuke! You told me once that you'd much rather die than turn out like your father! You hate people like him! You said you wouldn't judge people right off the bat or treat them bad because of who they are or anything like that! But now...now look at you! Not only have you turned back into the person you were when you fought with Yun-chan, you've turned into the exact type of person that you hate!" Tokomon told him very loudly and angrily.
It's here that Kosuke stopped screaming. He didn't want to believe it or admit it, but he was obliged to do so: Tokomon is absolutely, positively, and categorically right about everything. Kosuke's turned into his father, the very person he hates! When Tokomon's words hit his brain right on the mark, Kosuke realized it: he's turned his back on his own goal. His goal was to never be the hateful and cruel person that Seiichi is. Kosuke promised himself that he would be kind, sensitive, accepting, and wise. But now, he's turned into the volatile and hateful beast that Seiichi is. Minako put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't get me wrong. What she did today was rather unnecessary, and she could have hurt someone. But you treating her the way you did...do you know what behavior like that can do? To both kids and adults? If you continue treating her the way you do, she'll just drink even more and come out worse. Don't you want things to be back to the way they were? You shouldn't lose hope!" Minako told him.
"She...She's your mother!" Hokuto blurted out suddenly, which was a surprise to everyone. "I-I-I think...you should love your mother and look past her flaws! Don't live a life of hatred and animosity!"
"Hokuto-kun? That's...the first time we've ever heard you speak up about anything," Minako muttered.
"People...People say my dad is the most horrible person in the world. They say what he did to me is wrong. But...they have the wrong idea! My dad never treated me bad! He loved me very much despite his flaws! Sure he wouldn't let me leave my room and put me through some weird tests, but he had his reasons for doing those things, and I'm sure he meant well!"
Finally, Kosuke fell silent and let the anger drain out of him like a waterfall. He realized it now: his mother isn't the chains that are keeping him bound to the earth and bereaving him of flight. It was a different thing entirely: his hatred. His rancor. His animosity toward a woman who's trying hard, but has fallen into despair and despondency so much that she feels drinking will help her escape reality. Kosuke forgot that his mother actually was a normal person. A human being. He wondered who he took after the most. Seiichi or Kanako? Kosuke needed the answer, because he doesn't want to turn into a clone of Seiichi, nor does he wish to fall into the same rock bottom level of the pit of despair that Kanako has fallen into because of what happened to her. But this didn't stop him from being angry at Kanako for what she's done. No, he can't let this go. Tokomon, having shed his own anger, trotted over to Kosuke and looked up at him with a dejected face.
"Kosuke. Let's go home," Tokomon told him gently. Feeling remorseful, Kosuke scooped little Tokomon in his arms and decided to walk back home. He didn't even bother saying goodbye to Minako and Hokuto, whom he left behind at the train station.
Minako looked at Hokuto. "Hokuto-kun? What kind of tests did your dad put you through?"
The response she got was something she didn't expect. "Joan Crawford is an American film actress who was born on March 23rd, 1905 and died on May 10th, 1977 at the age of 72. She was voted the tenth greatest female star in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute, though two of her adopted children alleged that she abused them. Christina Crawford wrote the book Mommie Dearest as a tell-all memoir..."
'Okay, how does he go from speaking up a little about his dad to talking in detail about an actress who died 40 years ago?' Minako thought, looking quite shocked by Hokuto's sudden change (though Yun would normally find this to be unsurprising, since she's had to deal with his random spouts of incredibly detailed information on just about anything on an almost near regular basis. The same for Aki), though she did manage to notice that there was a small, thin thread of connection between Hokuto's first outburst and his sudden dictonary-like word vomit. He said that his dad loved him even though he kept him in a room all the time and performed weird tests on him, and that everyone else thinks he's the worst living human in the world who deserves to be viewed as nothing but worthless scum of the earth. Minako remembered that her mother read Mommie Dearest once, and when she was finished, Minako asked to read it. Crawford's adopted children claimed that their adoptive mother abused them on a regular basis, especially over nothing. Minako couldn't help but wonder if Hokuto has a very different perception of child abuse than the rest of the world, considering how out of touch he is with the world in general.
Kosuke and Tokomon went home to an empty house. Kanako had been taken away by the police. Kosuke wondered what would happen to her, but decided not to talk about it. It's then that Tokomon hopped in front of him suddenly.
"Kosuke. I want to show you something. Come see," Tokomon told him and gestured him to follow him. Kosuke did as asked and followed him.
Kosuke and Tokomon went into Kanako's room, a place Kosuke had never been into before. He didn't really see any reason to go in there, so he never did until now. Tokomon managed to squeeze into the closet and show Kosuke the boxes. Kosuke walked up to the closet, unstacked the big boxes, and opened each one. One box contained every single My Little Pony toy that Kanako collected since she was a little girl. The other box contained Kanako's notebooks and diaries.
"I was cleaning once, and I found these. You should read the diaries. They'll give you an idea of what your mother was like when she was a little girl. It might be very helpful," Tokomon told him without hesitation.
Kosuke didn't say anything back. He looked through Kanako's first diary and began reading it. Tokomon decided to leave him alone and left the room. Kosuke suddenly became so immersed with Kanako's old diaries that he read every single one of them in a span of five hours! After he finished reading Kanako's final diary, he rushed to make dinner, which wasn't much. He reheated some leftovers from yesterday, which he and Tokomon enjoyed. Then Kosuke went to look at more of Kanako's notebooks, which contained stories that Kanako herself wrote about her favorite My Little Pony characters. Some of them even contained stories and characters that Kanako made up herself, which had nothing to do with My Little Pony or any other cartoon Kosuke watched or heard about. To his surprise, there are a lot of them, and they're actually really good, with a few grammar errors here and there. Finally, at about 10:00 PM, Kosuke fell asleep. He slept so much that he failed to hear the sound of police men taking Kanako back into the house.
Tuesday morning came, and Kosuke woke up to find himself still in Kanako's room, surrounded by notebooks and a few My Little Pony toys that had been scattered around. Kosuke scrambled to his feet in alarm and ran into the living room to find Kanako, who is sober, and Patamon, who digivolved just this morning, watching TV together! Rather insouciantly at that, which Kosuke found to be a very strange and peculiar sight. Patamon noticed Kosuke and smiled at him.
"Good morning! Your breakfast is in the dining room. Kanako-san made scrambled eggs and waffles with maple syrup for you," Patamon told him cheerfully. Kosuke was quite speechless for about a minute.
"Th-Thanks..." Kosuke ambled into the dining room and consumed his breakfast. After a bit, he walked off to school, leaving Kanako and Patamon all alone in the house...for about an hour, at least. Suddenly, the phone rang and Kanako went to answer it.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Yes. This is Hanemoto Kanako."
Silence.
"What? Really? Thanks. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Silence.
"Thank you so much. I'll meet you there. Bye."
Kanako hung up the phone quickly.
"What's up?" Patamon asked.
"I'm going to a job interview," Kanako told him.
"A job interview?"
"Yes. I applied for a job last week, and I just found out my first interview is in another two hours. I'm going to get ready. Will you look after the house while we're gone?" By we, she meant Kosuke and herself.
"Sure," Patamon nodded.
It took about 45 minutes for Kanako to get prepared, but Patamon was quite surprised by how she came out! She looked absolutely stunning! Her hair is clean and straight, with a few curls here and there. She put on some nice clothes consisting of a pale yellow blouse, a long white skirt with lace under it, purple shoes, tall white socks, and a small garnet necklace. Kanako's sober right now so she's in good condition to be in a job interview. Soon, Kanako left the house, leaving Patamon all alone.
After a few hours, Kanako came back, changed out of her nice clothes, and put on some more house appropriate clothes consisting of a black T-shirt and blue jean pants. She sat back on the couch and watched TV. Two hours after that, Kosuke came home.
"I'm back," Kosuke said to Patamon, not to Kanako.
"Welcome home," Both Kanako and Patamon said in unison.
Kosuke stopped in his tracks upon seeing the two together again, but after a few minutes, he stomped into his bed room. He could hear the opening and closing of a door. Then Patamon flew into his room in high spirits.
"Hey Kosuke! You're not gonna believe this!" Patamon exclaimed.
"What?" Kosuke asked.
"Earlier today, Kanako went to a job interview! She told me so! She said she applied for a job last week and today was the interview," Patamon told him happily.
Kosuke, on the other hand, didn't look happy. He took his poem book and sat down on his bed.
"Her? Applying for a job? Yeah right!" Kosuke exclaimed rather harshly. Again, Patamon looked very disappointed.
"Kosuke. I know you weren't there so I can understand why you don't believe me, but can't you at least give Kanako-san a chance? I mean, she really is trying, so you should give her at least some credit," Patamon told him with his stubby little arms crossed.
"I already gave her chances, and she's trashed them all. There's no hope for her," Kosuke scoffed as he left the bed room, leaving Patamon alone and looking very despondent.
"Kosuke..." Patamon muttered sadly.
Kosuke went down into the dirty basement, found some boxes, and began opening them.
"Saturday's the yard sale. Maybe I'll find some things that'll sell for a decent amount," Kosuke muttered to himself as he pryed open every single old box he could find.
To his surprise, there are a lot of things he could sell, and for quite a lot of money at that! Of course, he didn't realize HOW much money until the day of the yard sale.
