Digimon Re: Tamers Chapter 19:
Grandis is normally not one to be this angered about anything. Otherworldly his origins may be, Grandis can usually keep his temper issues in check. Usually, that is. Due to recent circumstances, including the continued disappearance of Guilmon and Terriermon, and the inexplicable happiness Ruki now has with her family safe at last, Grandis finds himself uncharacteristically nervous about something.
"All of this time, Enigma has caught us off guard in some manner or form; I need to find out what exactly this Enigma entity truly is, and how longer it'll continue to screw up the laws of reality." Grandis mumbles to himself, as he moves to open the entrance to the secret lower floor of the VIP Club. Even knowing nobody else is here because he had personally kicked out everyone for the whole day, Grandis still gives a rather quick, shifty look around the main room of the VIP Club proper.
"Clear skies, indeed." Grandis states, as he chuckles lightly as he slams the door to the secret room shut tight upon entering. A solid minute passes as Grandis moves to someplace inside of the chamber, as the VIP Club room suddenly "stirs" with an unknown trespasser of sorts. Materializing into physical form in a shadowy entity, the unknown entity moves to the command console just behind the counter in the room. Suddenly typing away madly with three large, massive claws, the unknown entity is met with an expected result.
[Valid Password Detected. User Account possesses Digital Hazard. Enter voice verification.]
"ID: Guilmon."
[Voice verification: Accepted. Command?]
"Access and download all relevant files to subject Jeri Katou."
[Command Accepted. Processing request and transmitting data…]
"I honestly don't even know myself what I Digivolved into or why, I had thought I had Digivolved into Devimon just fine. Then everything went… weird, and I Slide Digivolved into something called Vungareimon."
Impmon slowly explains what he had endured during his confrontation with Indramon. Ruki listens, her eyes closed, as she tries to let all of this sink in.
"Vungareimon… I've never heard of such a Digimon before…" Ruki states, before opening her eyes as she looks at Jeri. "By any chance did your own Digivice have any information regarding this new form?" Ruki asks Jeri, as Jeri nods.
"It did, but I'm still confused. I could've sworn Devimon was Impmon's Champion Level form..." Jeri speaks, as Renamon coughs a bit to clear her throat.
"Jeri, I don't mean to be rude, but not every Digimon is guaranteed to become a specific form for their evolutionary level at any given point in their life. True, Impmon isn't exactly a mortal Digimon with a set lifespan, but he's not completely immortal like-" Renamon visibly flinches when she has to stop herself from speaking, as Ruki's eyes widen as she quickly realizes what Renamon was nearly about to say. Noticing the symmetrical rabbit from earlier passing by, Ruki whistles for it to have its attention caught.
"Jeri! Over there! The bunny!" Ruki calls out as she hopes Jeri will take notice, as Jeri looks over towards the black and white rabbit as her eyes widen with glee. Impmon, though, feels something uncharacteristically fishy with Ruki's means of changing the subject.
"Bunny!" Jeri squees as she skips over towards the small rabbit to pick it up and begin petting it carefully. Impmon's gaze turns serious as Jeri is distracted, as he looks directly at Ruki.
"Lemme guess, that nutcase of a Leomon is still at large isn't he?"
"Oooh yeah; I don't want Jeri near that guy even if she had 12 rooouuu-" Ruki finds herself stumbling over her own words as she visibly shudders a bit as she clears her throat; Impmon's eyes narrow a bit as Ruki was speaking funny, before Ruki finally resumes her speech after clearing her throat extensively.
"S-Sorry, 12 foot pole. My, er, apologizes for the slip, but that particular Leomon has been on the back of my mind lately." Ruki lies, as she looks at Renamon, as Renamon moves to give a serious glance towards Impmon.
"My apologies, Impmon; I nearly was destroyed the last time Leomon and I encountered each other." Renamon states, as Impmon raises an eye.
"Reeeally now? You, a Data Attribute, having issues with a Vaccine Digimon like Leomon? Why is it you guys fear this particular Leomon so much anyways?" Impmon asks, as Ruki clears her mind as she looks at Impmon.
"He's completely immortal; Raiga herself tried to terminate him personally, and even when using her full power as an Ultra Level she somehow still failed to pull it off." Ruki states, as Impmon blinks.
"'Still'? As in this wasn't the only time?"
"Tempest tried to terminate him several times prior before convincing Flare to Fuse with him to try again, all of the attempts failed even in spite of Tempest's Data Attribute." Ruki clarifies, and Renamon nods.
"And considering Guilmon hasn't been heard from for two days now, where do you think Leomon's going to strike next?" Renamon points out, as Impmon lowers his gaze as he processes this in his mind.
"Takato's a sitting duck. At the very least Henry has Kazu and Kenta backing him up, but Takato? Hoo boy, what do you recommend we do?" Impmon asks, as Ruki raises an eye.
"Why are you asking me? It should be kind of obvious what you and Jeri should do." Ruki tells him, as Impmon groans a bit.
"So I'll need to push my new form to the test with an immortal Leomon, wonderful, just wonderful…" Impmon mutters, as he scratches the back of his head as he sighs a bit. "Alright, I'll get Jeri's attention and we'll head over to wherever Takato may be." Impmon states, as he walks over towards Jeri and the oddly content rabbit. Upon getting Jeri's attention, Jeri sets down the rabbit as the rabbit simply stands there and stares towards Ruki and Renamon.
"So we're going to see Takato? Are you sure he'll be okay with that?" Jeri asks Impmon, as Impmon nods.
"Positive; just… try and restrain yourself this time after nearly scaring the boy half to death the other day." Impmon states, as Jeri nods.
"Alright, I'll give him my best shot!" Jeri states, a little too overconfident and bubbly in her voice, as Impmon groans a bit as Jeri moves to rush off towards the school as Impmon gives chase. Renamon, now that Jeri and Impmon have left, looks towards Ruki as her eye twitches a bit.
"Alright, now that they're both out of earshot, care to explain why you're so antsy around your best friend?" Renamon asks, as Ruki looks at Renamon and flinches a bit, taking a step back.
"W-What do you mean?" Ruki asks, to which Renamon glares.
"Normally you'd never take advantage of Jeri's easily distracted nature in such a way, not even if it was for something absolutely important! Just what exactly did I miss yesterday?" Renamon asks, her voice sounding harsh, as Ruki takes a few steps back, looking down at her own feet as she closes her eyes. Renamon's gaze softens a bit, as she slowly takes a small step forward.
"Ruki, I didn't mean to overstep your boundaries like that. Your behavior is completely upside down all of a sudden, and I'm beginning to feel fear knowing you're not acting like yourself." Renamon asks, as Ruki slowly sheds a tear as she shudders.
"… You're right, I haven't been acting myself as of yesterday, but I can't let Jeri know what I had done without everyone suddenly treating me like a monster!" Ruki states, as Renamon blinks.
"Why would anyone treat you any differently over something so trivial?" Renamon asks, as Ruki's eyes snap open wide as she glares at Renamon, gritting her teeth as she does so.
"Trivial?! You dare make the implication that you even have any remote idea as to what unfolded yesterday prior to our reunion with each other and especially my family, and yet you have the audacity to call what had happened merely trivial?!" Ruki yells at Renamon, as she slowly gives into crying. Ruki's expression quickly changing from anger to complete and utter guilt, she slowly sinks to the ground on her knees as she starts to cry more intensely. Renamon moves to lean down to stay at her level, as the rabbit moves over towards the two and watches what unfolds. Renamon ignores the rabbit for the moment, as she moves to, very slowly, approach Ruki and move to carefully pat her head with her paws, showcasing an extraordinary amount of restraint of her own power in doing so.
Ruki's gaze shifts to confusion, as she slowly moves to look at Renamon in the eyes. Renamon, maintaining a serious gaze, albeit a very gentle one, moves to brush a few tears away from Ruki's eyes.
"Ruki, no matter what had transpired yesterday from which you do not need to speak of if you don't wish to, I want you to know something important, that everyone will go out of their way to remind you of as well." Renamon begins to say, as Ruki shifts a bit closer. Upon realizing Ruki's state, Renamon moves to carefully hug Ruki close to her soft, furry body, as Ruki hugs her back and begins to cry again, softly, into her fluff covered shoulder. Renamon, carefully, brushes her hand along Ruki's back to sooth her emotional pain, as she moves Ruki's gaze to look at her as she finally speaks again.
"Ruki, you are much better than you will ever give yourself credit for, and that is something every one of our friends will agree with when I say that."
Back at school, Takato is in the boy's locker room just shy away from the court yard of the school's foundation. Kenta is there as well, as both he and Takato are busy washing off a lot of sweat from their own bodies.
"Say, Takato, do you have anybody you like?" Kenta asks, as he looks over at Takato. Takato, looking back at him, closes his eyes as he nervously chuckles.
"W-Well… there is this cute girl I've been hanging out with, b-but… e-er… she and I have yet to go on an official date so far..." Takato brings up, rather sheepishly, as Kenta sighs.
"Honestly you should be lucky she appears to be interested in you as well." Kenta points out, to which Takato nods.
"That's the only reassurance I've gotten so far, though, u-um, am I able to tell you a secret which is only going to make me approaching her for a date oh so much harder?" Takato responds, as he knows too well that Kenta can keep this a secret.
"Sure, you can tell me anything." Kenta replies, as Takato, slowly, takes in a heavy breath, before exhaling.
"She's on her period; she has the distinct smell of it and everything. I'm also afraid she doesn't know any better on how to control her own hormones for her own good, either..." Takato tells Kenta, as Kenta listens.
"Would she by any chance be Jeri Katou?" Kenta asks, to which Takato nods. "Yeeeah… She's a tough one. Not as a fighter, but in terms of her mental development. I've only heard from the sidelines of Ruki talking about her with the other teachers. I swear if it wasn't for Ruki constantly vouching for Jeri that the teachers would've torn the poor girl to shreds by now." Kenta begins to explain, as Takato coughs a bit to interrupt him.
"Kenta, we're the only ones in the shower stalls right now, right?" Takato asks, as Kenta nods, although the separation between the stalls kept the two from being immediately visible to each other.
"Yes, why? In fact, I was going to ask if you happened to know anything about why we're both the only ones to show up to gym class." Kenta answers, as Takato sighs.
"I wouldn't know, unfortunately; ever since Guilmon went missing I've been paranoid beyond all reason. I swear I can hear someone slowly walking and just outside of the stalls."
"Hi." Impmon speaks up, as Jeri giggles a bit. Kenta's eyes widen as he hears Jeri's voice, moving to hold the door to his stall shut, as Jeri just quietly waits outside of the stalls for Takato to leave his own stall.
"U-U-Uh… Jeri?! Impmon?! What are you doing here?! Impmon I figured you would've at least reminded her that the boy's showers are off limits to her!" Takato says, as Impmon blinks.
"Uh, Takato, I know you don't mean to sound rude with that, and I'm certain Jeri knows that you're not trying to be rude, either, but..." Impmon tries to state, as Jeri is humming blissfully at the door of the shower stall that Takato is in. Realizing Takato's going to be beyond super shy right now, and realizing Kenta is clearly hiding things out, Impmon snaps his fingers to get Jeri's attention.
"Jeri, I believe we need to have you check in with your homeroom teacher. You've, er, been away from the school premises for too long, after all." Impmon feigned, hoping Jeri would buy it so that she would leave Takato and Kenta alone. Jeri, tilting her head a bit in confusion, slightly nods a bit, before taking her leave out of the shower room. Impmon, meanwhile, exhales in relief as to the fact Jeri had left, as he looks towards the stalls.
"Okay guys, she's gone. You might want to get out and get dressed, since I fear she might not be gone for too long. Moment she reports in, she'll be coming right back to see you, Takato." Impmon tells the two boys, as Kenta and Takato both nod from behind the doors of their shower stalls.
"A-Alright..." Takato mumbles, as he listens as he hears Impmon leaving as well. After all of this, Kenta finally speaks up.
"Oh she's very much on her period alright; I can only assume she wanted to go into your stall with you and-" Kenta tries to suggest, before he's cut off by Takato.
"Trust me, Kenta, as pretty as she is, I already struggle enough to resist that temptation as it is..." Takato says, as he moves to get dressed after having turned off the water in his stall.
"Oh, and, er… There's a little something else you might want to be informed of, Takato… Something that'll perhaps keep Ruki off of your back if she learns of this encounter." Kenta says, as Takato perks up.
"What is it you have to tell me?"
"Nothing much, aside from some guy going around school taking photographs of the girl's undergarments and invading the girl's shower undetected." Kenta brings up, as Takato's eyes widen.
"Ah, crap… I could've sworn I told my cousin he can't be doing any of this shit!" Takato says, fully dressed as he moves to head out after grabbing his bag.
"Hold up! It's not who you think it is! Takato? Are you still able to hear me?!"
A while had passed between when Jeri had attempted to talk to Takato in the boy's shower room, and Takato is walking out of the school building after the final bell rings. All of the other students are seen leaving, and a few of them he can see are couples. Takato's face turns red upon seeing Jeri standing out alone at the front gate, much like how he was on the first day in which Jeri had joined the VIP Club. Impmon is laying against the other side of the gate, simply napping. Jeri's left foot is moving a bit, almost as though she were impatient, but not showing such an emotion through her face. Her expression seems lost in thought, as if kept occupied by the movement of her own foot.
'Now or never, Takato...' Takato thinks to himself, as he moves to approach Jeri, slowly. "H-Hey, Jeri. I'm sorry about earlier." Takato greets Jeri, as Jeri looks over in his direction as she processes Takato's presence in her mind. Jeri moves back to looking down at her foot, gently tapping it against the ground. Takato blinks, realizing something is on Jeri's mind.
"… Jeri?" Takato asks, as he moves to walk closer towards her, as Jeri slowly turns her gaze to face Takato.
"I'm sorry about earlier, Takato… I don't know what came over me." Jeri speaks, quietly, as she feels Takato place a finger on her lips, causing her entire face to flush red. Takato hushes her, calmly, as Takato moves closer to her, leading to Jeri being pushed back against a pillar with Takato practically pinning her in place. Jeri's eyes widen a bit, but she doesn't fight back, only responding by closing her eyes.
Realizing Jeri slowly begins to pucker her lips, Takato moves in close with his hand tilting Jeri's head to the side a bit. After a short, hesitant pause, Takato moves to kiss Jeri on the lips, as Jeri kisses him back with a heated intensity. Moving to wrap her arms around Takato's back, Jeri can feel Takato's hands grasp around her and place themselves firmly on her-
"J-Jeri?!"
Takato's voice speaks up all of a sudden in complete surprise. Jeri's eyes snap open wide; something isn't right, Takato is still kissing her, and yet she could very clearly hear her name being called by him loud and clear. Not even the slightest hint of his voice was muffled when he called her name, either. Jeri moves to slowly push Takato away a bit, as Takato looks at her in confusion.
"D-Did you call my name aloud, Takato?" Jeri asks, confused as to how clear Takato's voice was. Takato, shaking his head, notices something from the corner of his eye as he gasps. Looking towards the entrance to the school, Jeri notices where Takato is looking and moves to look in that direction herself. Upon doing so, Jeri covers her mouth with her hands as her eyes become super wide all of a sudden.
For Takato is somehow standing before her very gaze, staring at her and "himself" in complete shock, even in spite of Takato also standing right next to her at the same time.