Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Digimon Trinity
Chapter: 137/ Episode 20: Teammates
"We apologize for keeping you waiting," bowed the man to Janyu fervently, his expression one of sweating apology. "We were told he would be back in the afternoon. Please wait a little longer."
"I see," Janyu replied, trying to be put the man at ease. However, this only made him bow all the more deeply.
"This must be a terrible inconvenience," he continued. "Can I get you some more tea?"
"No, thanks."
The man looked badly put out by this, but nodded nonetheless.
"Very well," he said, and swiftly retreated. Janyu sighed and turned to look out over the empty lecture hall, wishing he had brought something to read to break up the monotony of silence. Not that he minded it. The lecture hall was enjoyable for him to be in despite being devoid of company.
I used to spend a lot of time in lecture halls like this, he thought, a small, nostalgic smile gracing his aged features. And as far as transfers go, this isn't a bad one.
He frowned slightly, and he berated himself for having such thoughts. He had to remember that the increasing number of digimon attacks were the reason why he was here to begin with; why his work had been relocated to the Shinjuku government building.
Taking up the sword again, he thought, his mind wandering back to the days of the War. His expression darkened. Though he never served on the front lines, he remembered the darkness and the pressure of those days to combat the invading digimon. He wasn't sure why he had been called upon again – there were plenty more hotshot and young programmers rising in the ranks every day – but why look a gift horse in the mouth if it helped him as well?
Shibumi… Are you truly in the digital world orchestrating all this? Or is it something else? He closed his eyes against the thought, hating the silence of the lecture hall for leaving him alone with such thoughts. He didn't want to believe his old friend capable of such things. Yet, Koji's words remained firmly rooted in the soil of his mind, and every so often they sent out a little root to dig a little deeper.
He hoped…prayed that this place would give him access to everything he needed to locate his friend and protect his son.
Protect Henry… His hands tightened, thinking of his son going out and fighting the Darkness as so many young children did so many years ago. So many who would never come home.
He would do anything to ensure his son didn't end up another gravestone before his time.
###
The school day wore down for Henry with unbearable slowness, but after soon releasing, he made his way down the city street – alone for a change – and found himself standing outside of the gate leading to Rika's home.
Definitely a lot taller than I remember, he thought, looking up at it. He couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by it.
"What's there to be afraid of?" intruded Terriermon's voice. Not the real one, but rather how he imagined his partner would sound if he had been allowed to tag along. "It's just a wall. The one at your school is made of brick. Trust me. That one hits a lot harder."
That's not the point, he replied to that fake voice. The last time he had been to Rika's place it had been back when she had been more of an adversary. Takato had reached out to her when Guilmon had disappeared, wanting to warn her in case whatever happened to his partner affected Renamon as well. The foundations of their team had been laid then, but he hadn't been back here ever since.
Now that he was, he took a good look at the gate that surrounded Rika's home. All the other walls that surrounded the houses on the street were fairly plain and lacking in any great detail or even color, but the one about the Nonaka residence? Dark and earthy it was in coloring, with still darker, slanted roofs with traditional tiling. The main gate itself was wooden, appearing almost like the entry to a temple and it was enormous, both in height as well as in thickness. If Takato hadn't proven otherwise, he would doubt that his knocks would carry very far, and as far as he could see, there was no doorbell to ring.
Not that there was any need to. The door was open to all who wanted entry at present, revealing a wide yard within which a koi pond lay, beautifully surrounded by stonework with a bridge arching over it. Trees, thin and willowy, grew in the lawn on either side of a wide, stone path. And beyond…the main house itself, castle-like in appearance with a high, towering roof. For half an instant, Henry felt like a warrior of old preparing to meet with some ruler of the land. He didn't doubt that the entirety of his home and Takato's could fit here and still be space leftover for a family or three.
"Kind of hard not to think of her as anything other than a princess now, doesn't it?" came Terriermon's voice.
"Please tell me you're not just going to stand there staring like a gogglehead," came an approaching voice, causing Henry to jerk to attention.
"Terriermon…" he began out of reflex only to palm his face immediately upon realizing what he had done. Turning, he saw Rika approaching him in her grey, school uniform, eyebrow raised.
"Excuse me?" she asked. Blushing, Henry sighed.
"Sorry. It's been a long day and I've had a lot on my mind. This would be about the time that Terriermon would say something and…well." He shrugged, suddenly feeling a little awkward around her. For some reason, his excuse sounded lame to him now that he said it out loud to her. Perhaps it was the house, or the way that she looked at him impassively while listening. Or maybe it was because they were alone together and he was starting to realize what Takato must feel every time he was left alone with her. That sense of unapproachableness that came with her castle.
She seemed to accept the explanation for what it was with a simple, unenthused shrug.
"Hm," Rika acknowledged with a nod before stepping into her yard. "Wait here. I'll be out in a second."
"Okay," Henry nodded in return, stepping off to the side with a sigh of relief. She returned some minutes later, dressed in her usual clothes and wordlessly they headed off. The streets of her corner of the city gave away to the lush wooded area of the park before the forest of concrete and steel forced nature to give ground. The sound of motorists and construction equipment began to become more prominent, but Rika remained silent throughout.
Not that I'm one for conversation myself, he thought, not minding this, especially given the girl's legendary temper. Still, it felt odd to him that they spend the whole time not saying a word to one another. They were teammates after all.
"Takato looked a lot better today," he said. "He went to school without any trouble."
Rika glanced at him from out of the corner of her eye, lips thinning together. She gave a light humph, but he saw the tension in her shoulders loosen a little.
"Good," she said tightly. "Stupid Gogglehead."
Henry frowned slightly, not sure what to make of that remark. Rika was hard to read and often kept her feelings boxed in tightly. It had almost led her partnership with Renamon to disaster. Ever since the battle with Mihiramon she often expressed concern for him. Granted, it took odd, angry currents, but it was concern nonetheless. What was she feeling now? She walked him home last night to make sure he wouldn't have another fainting spell as a result of his feedback. Surely that meant something, didn't it?
He didn't press however. He doubted Rika would cough anything up to satisfy his curiosity and she would only become angry at him for poking around in her business.
Silently, he shook his head, wondering how Takato managed it with the sheer amount of tension that nearly always seemed to boil off her.
He's a stubborn one, he thought.
For Rika's side of things, her stomach was a knot. Yesterday, she had been so distracted by the search for Impmon she hadn't thought about much of anything else, but now with the great gulf of silence between her home and the area where Impmon had crashed, she found herself becoming all too aware of being alone with Henry. While he was someone she was familiar with, she realized that the two of them barely knew anything about the other. It wasn't like it was with Takato. Henry carried himself with assuredness, but that wasn't what bothered her. It felt as though even though they were both Tamers, they were playing entirely different games.
Or perhaps it was something else? Was she just too used to making Takato nervous that it became strange not seeing it with Henry? She didn't interact with him much. The presence of Terriermon had largely been the source of their exchanging any words at all and without him around…
He's pretty aloof, she thought. That might have been what bothered her. He didn't act like he felt much need to say anything or need to get to know her.
Not that I'm much better. She frowned slightly, wondering if she should say something, if only to break the ice between them and get to know her teammate better. Sora's words to her yesterday about trying new things came to mind. This seemed like quite the opportune moment, but try as she might she couldn't think of anything. He didn't need any training the way Takato had, and she never saw him talking about the latest card releases during the brief moments where they socialized with Takato's friends. He just…kept to himself for the most part. Just like her.
Ugh… I'm terrible at this. Maybe I should stop thinking about such stupid things and focus on the mission.
She hated the idea of giving up though, and the problem found itself sitting in the back of her mind where she turned it over, working out the puzzle.
The sounds of construction grew louder and they came across the area where a gigantic hole lay in the middle of the street. Thick cracks branched out in every direction, leaving Rika to wince, wondering if Impmon had even survived at all. Digimon weren't affected by the real world the same way humans were, but at the Rookie level they were more vulnerable to it. Especially if they were already weakened to begin with.
"Here we are," he said as they came to a halt. Rika took out her digivice and began scanning for Impmon's signal. The compass swung wildly about on the screen, but at present detected nothing. She pressed her lips together tightly.
"Let's have a look about," she said, her voice changing, becoming more business-like; almost relieved to Henry's ears to be getting to work.
They traversed the area, starting as they did yesterday with the edge of the construction zone and branching outward. Before too long however, they found themselves right back where they started, watching the repair work progressing.
"I don't get it," Rika said. "Where Could he have gone?"
"Not too far, I imagine," Henry replied. "Looked like he was hurt pretty bad."
Rika looked down at the ground, her fists clenched together weakly. "If he wants to be stronger, he should look for a partner," she said, her tone more sad than angry. "It wouldn't have been so bad if he did."
It wouldn't have been so bad… she thought, thinking of all the times she and Renamon fought together and emerged triumphant. How…How could she have been so blind in the past? To think that she and Renamon could grow strong without the connection they shared with one another? If Impmon had someone who cared for him…
Hearing this, Henry smiled and turned toward her. "Rika… So you're worried too. You do have a heart!"
Rika jerked and looked up at him in surprise, taken aback by how easily he had seen through her. Her expression twisting up in embarrassment and anger, she raised her fists threateningly. Shrugging nonchalantly, Henry however merely slipped his hands into his pockets casually, wearing a smile that seemed to say, "You won't do anything me. I know better."
Most unfortunate, because he was right.
As if to put the cherry on top, the half-Chinese Tamer gave a light laugh.
Making an annoyed, flustered sound, she turned away and crossed her arms together. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She almost wished Takato were here instead. He would have reacted properly and been none the wiser.
Stupid Sora… Try new things, huh? See where this gets me now?
###
Makuramon kept his distance from Takato as the boy raced down the streets that led to his home – leaving later than the other children for some reason and almost tripping over himself in the process. He wanted to shake his head, wondering just how it was that this boy had defeated Mihiramon? Was it truly because of that little digimon or something else? He sensed that the other Devas didn't believe him, so he continued his vigilance over the humans, gathering information. Perhaps watching them would clue him in on the connection that these three humans had with that mysterious little digimon – if any connection was to be found.
It can't possibly be digivolution, he thought. No Digidestined or Tamer ever needed help with that.
Coming to a stop as the boy drew up to his home, his gaze fell upon the boy's waist, wherein lay his digivice. It was a different model. Could that have anything to do with it?
He pondered this when all of a sudden, the human let out a loud scream and bolted into his home at breakneck speed.
###
The peace, before Makuramon watched it become destroyed, sat precariously on a razors edge as Takehiro stood before the two boys, Kazu and Kenta, rubbing at his chin in confusion, trying to puzzle out what they were telling him.
"Guilmon bread?" he asked again, to which both boys nodded in affirmation.
"Exactly! It's so cool!"
"Yeah, you got to do it!"
"Well…I don't know…"
"You just bake it in the shape of Guilmon," Kazu said, waving his hands about in front of him, as though he were saying something obvious. Kenta struck a pose as well, grinning wildly.
"Yeah! In a battle pose like this!"
"Easy way to make big dough," Kazu said happily. "It'll be a hit for sure!"
"Yeah! And I'd eat it every single day for breakfast, lunch and dinner!"
Takehiro, however, was not convinced. More, he was confused. It almost sounded like they were talking about some kind of digimon, but was that really the case?
"Tell me again. What is this Guilmon?" he asked, hoping to clear things up.
Then, screeching chaos broke into the bakery.
###
Takato hadn't known what to expect when he got home from detention, but finding Kazu and Kenta there in front of his father had been the absolute last stop on the list. Somehow though, as the door to the bakery dinged open, they managed something even more unexpected, and that was in the form of the question that came out of his father's mouth.
"Tell me again. What is this Guilmon?"
"Ah… Ahhh… AaaAHHH!"
Kazu and Kenta whirled about at Takato's sudden yell, both wondering what Deva had suddenly bio-emerged. Takato didn't give them time to think or ask questions, and instead dashed forward, grabbed both of them and yanked them toward the door.
"Hi Dad! Bye Dad!" he said unceremoniously, the door sliding shut behind them in record time, leaving a very perplexed Takehiro wondering himself just what was going on.
###
"So psycho boy, what was that all about back there?"
Takato shot Kazu an annoyed look. "Duh! I haven't told my dad about Guilmon yet!"
"Still?" Kazu cocked an eyebrow at him. "I would have thought you'd fill him in by now with everything going on. It'd at least get you out of doing chores all the time."
"Thanks for the warning," Kenta said, trying to look peeved. "We had no idea."
"Anyway," Kazu resumed, digging into his pocket. "I wanted to show you something."
"Huh?" Takato raised an eyebrow as the boy took out a card and presented it to him triumphantly. On it was the scrawled picture of the Crest of Love.
"Ta da!"
Takato blinked. "Um… A Crest?"
"Right," Kazu grinned. "My Crest of Love card. Made it myself!"
"Yeah, we thought that Guilmon and the others could use some help, you know?"
"That's…" Takato's brow knotted together in confusion. "A drawing of a Crest though?"
"You said the game's Crests don't work with your digivices for some reason, so I thought I'd try something like what you did to make Guilmon. The bad guys keep getting stronger so I thought I'd show them what a real tamer can do."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Takato demanded heatedly.
"Come on Takato," urged Kenta. "Let's just try the card on your digivice, okay?"
Kazu pressed the card into his hand and Takato looked at it uncertainly. Seeing his hesitation, Kazu lifted an eyebrow and planted his hands on his hips.
"I designed it just like it looks from the game. It's totally accurate!"
"Yeaaahhh…" Takato let out a nervous laugh. "But it's not quite right."
Now Kazu looked uncertain. "But I stayed in the lines and everything."
Just then there was a loud scream and Takato jumped back just as a hand swiped at the empty air where his digivice had been. His eyes swept up and found themselves locking with a pair of black, angry-looking irises belonging to the strange 'boy' that mocked Impmon once before. The boy that Renamon and Rika had pursued once and had frightened his friends during a game of Hide and Seek.
The digimon that everyone worried was a spy for the Devas. Who had just now tried to steal his digivice.
"No!" Takato shouted, clenching his fists together. Growling, the 'boy' backed away and then jumped over Kazu and Kenta, knocking them all over before running off, hooting with laughter like some kind of monkey.
"That is one weird little dude," Kazu observed as they all watched its retreating back.
"Weird, but dangerous," Takato said, helping Kenta to his feet. "We've got to be more careful. He's never done that before."
"Sure he has!" Kazu replied, rising. "He gets off on giving us a scare. I bet he has it on his schedule of 'daily bad guy routines' to freak us out before he goes to bed at night. Probably right after making Kenta wet the bed or something."
"Hey!" Kenta exclaimed indignantly.
"Admit it, Chumley. You totally would if that little weirdo showed up acting like that."
"No, I mean, he tried to steal my digivice." Takato squeezed it in his hand. "He's up to something. I just wish we knew what it was."
Sighing, he shook his head and started off down the path again. "Come on. We've got to get to the others."
###
Takeru made his way down the hall, his agent close behind him.
"Congratulations on getting approval," the man said, his tone cool. Takeru nodded in response.
"Even if they don't understand the logic behind it, they have to acknowledge the results. Fortunately, we were able to provide that. Any news on the visitor to Shibumi's apartment?"
"Not yet sir," the man replied. "But I've got my best men working on it as we speak."
Takeru nodded again. That was to be expected he supposed. Since Ken's incident with the Blue Card, he kept a round the clock surveillance on the apartment, hoping that whoever may or may not be using it as a base of operations would arrive. So far, nothing happened save for one confirmed entry that resulted in nothing. He doubted that much would come from this particular breadcrumb.
In all likelihood, it's just the digital world trying to create more of the next generation of Digidestined, he thought, flicking his father's lighter open. He tsked, wondering why the digital world continued that tired, worn out path of resistance. It never truly stopped the Forces of Darkness. Merely delayed them until they were strong enough for their next attack.
And each time they grow stronger. The last time the human world was nearly devastated. Do the forces of Light truly believe they can continue this forever? Sooner or later, their luck is going to run out. They've made bad decisions before. The first Digidestined weren't able to truly defeat the Dark Masters, and they had to try again with a second group. My group. Sooner or later, they'll make another mistake and this time it will be fatal.
Parting ways from his agent, he turned down the hall and toward other concerns. His plan was almost in complete. He just needed one last piece to the puzzle and today he had that last piece in his hands. He just hoped that he would be cooperative.
His profile suggests that he will be, he thought, placing a hand on the door knob to the room and pushing it open. Stepping into the lecture hall, he found a thick-set man with greying hair seated at a desk. Snapping his lighter closed, he bowed politely.
"Mr. Wong," he greeted. "Thank you for waiting so patiently. My name is Takeru Takaishi."
"I…remember you," Janyu said, rising from his chair. "The Digidestined of Hope."
The man I was warned about.
"Not anymore," Takeru replied. "I run this facility now. There is nothing to fear, this project is completely sanctioned by the government."
"Project…?" Janyu blinked. "You're the one who had me transferred?"
"There wasn't much choice," Takeru explained, folding his arms behind him. "You and your friends are the original creators of digimon. You know better than anyone how they function. I would like to put your talents back to work to correct a mistake we made when the War ended."
"W-What mistake is that?" Janyu asked, somewhat taken aback.
"Sparing the Powers of Darkness from complete and total destruction," Takeru replied simply. "We have the ability now, but it seems there's a crucial bit of information that we need about the original digimon code that only you and your friends understand well enough to provide assistance on."
Destroying the Powers of Darkness… Janyu's mind reeled at the prospect. All at once he was brought back to the War, hearing news every day of some new battle. A casualty list posting; a reminder of everything they stood to lose if they failed in their mission. The Battle of Odaiba…
Henry. Closing his eyes, Janyu took a shaky breath. This is it. This is what I was thinking about. But to think it would really be him of all people who is behind this.
He thought back to Shibumi's apartment. Davis had said something about how the man couldn't be trusted. That he was pursuing a fool's errand and he no longer cared who he hurt in the process to do it.
But…was that really true?
If he really can destroy the Powers of Darkness…
"This project," he began hesitantly. "How do you intend to destroy the Darkness with it?"
Takeru nodded and gestured toward the door. "I have some people you will want to meet first before we get settled in. If you would come with me…"
Janyu nodded and together the two headed off, leaving the lecture room behind them empty once more of all human life.
Please, Janyu prayed, closing the door behind him. Let this man be telling the truth so I can protect my son.
###
A/N: The trick to this chapter was trying to work out Rika and Henry's interaction. I wanted to show that the two aren't quite comfortable with one another yet. Up until now, Takato's been the primary source of Rika's social interactions while Henry is usually just there trying (and failing) to keep Terriermon out of their hair and out of trouble. The sense that Rika picks up from him is that that while they have taming in common, their interests don't really coincide in the same way it does with Takato. Rika's standoffish, but she connects with him better over their interest in the card game, which is pretty extensive and Takato was looking to get into the competitive circle before they met, so many of their conversations would likely involve new cards, new strategies, etc. Henry, while certainly good, is a bit of a different track that runs alongside theirs, but is the sort that leads to other avenues. Were it not for taming, Henry would likely be pursuing computer programming more extensively, which isn't Rika's area of interest. Additionally, because Henry isn't much for talking himself, it makes for an interesting situation where I feel that they would both realize that they don't really know much about one another and the social pressure of needing to do so. Things are still early between them, so they haven't worked out the kinks yet.
Until next time.
-Crazyeight
8