Author's Note
Three more chapters coming your way! While I didn't keep the timing of these chapter breaks in mind when planning everything out, I did arrange each batch of chapters to end on a good note (by good meaning a significant development) before the hiatus as often as I could. In other words, why there were two four-chapter batches early on. I wanted to make sure the end of chapter 20 marked a nice, agonizing break.
Nexusworld
Cinematic: playing the angles so wide.
Enigmatic: are you tangled inside?
Automatic, channeling static
And you know you forgot how to feel what is real.
- Melissa Fahn, "Cinematic"
Episode 18
Nene Amano strummed her guitar while pretending Jeremy wasn't distracting her. Replacing a bad speaker should have been outside his job description, but it didn't take much prodding to get him in the practice room. She didn't mind the company. She and Matt rarely practiced together given his job keeping the castle from collapsing on itself. There were… other reasons.
"Sounds good!" Jeremy said. "New song?"
She chuckled to herself. It was barely a warmup exercise. "If it becomes one I'll dedicate it to you."
Jeremy looked up at her and grinned before plugging one last cord in. "Think we're all set here." He handed her the other end of the cord. "Give it a try."
She plugged it into her instrument and tried it out. Nothing.
"Not to worry! I'll figure this out!" Jeremy bent down, scratching his head in unmistakable confusion.
"If you have somewhere to be, Matt can look at it later," she offered, more out of pity than wanting him to leave.
"You tasked me with this quest! I shall compete it!" Jeremy bent down and pulled everything out of its socket. She didn't have the heart to say all of this was for Matt's gear.
As he backtracked to find the problem, he asked, as casually as he ever got, "Has everything been good with you and Matt then?"
"Oh, it's been like always," she answered, just as breezily.
"Oh, that's a relief."
She raised an eyebrow. "A relief?" Nene knew she shouldn't have asked, but she was never one to mistake the routine for good news.
"Sure, because of the… nope! I shouldn't say it."
"Hmm… I believe you have to now."
Jeremy stopped his work and faced her. "There are rumors."
"About what? Me and Matt?" She maintained her practiced, default grin. "I'm surprised you pay attention to them. I'm pretty open with Zoe and I have no doubt she slips some of it back to you." This was normally true, a calculated strategy to keep either of them from asking questions about her personal life. She had always omitted one significant detail, however, and that had her worried.
"It would be rude to say any more."
"At this point it would be rude not to." She pondered realizing a Digimon to hold him captive for answers.
"Fine. But you didn't hear it from me." Nene nodded, obliging his request. "Word is you two broke up and just aren't telling anybody."
Nene held her composed face. Inside, she sweat. "My, where did you hear this from?" she asked, as if it would be anyone other than Zoe.
"Er, uh… I shouldn't have to divulge my sources!" He answered, making it obvious that it was Zoe.
It didn't matter. She just needed time to think of a response. "I assure you our band is still together, despite Ewan moving back."
"I don't mean the band! I'm talking about you two!" Of course he did. That's why she didn't want to talk about it.
She wasn't in denial about their separation. It had been months, after all. Cutting him loose was something of a New Year's resolution for her, in fact. No matter how much time had passed or how appropriate it was, openly admitting it to anybody still proved difficult.
Perhaps it was the stubborn refusal to acknowledge that after she gleefully ignored them, all the warning signs and testimony about the pitfalls of dating Matt Ishida ended up being true. During the challenging times, he was a vital sounding board. When she was upset, he turned ferocious at whatever made her so. When he was unhappy, she was the supportive ear he needed, never dismissing his problems while guiding them into a productive output. Their music was a mutual release for both of them to sort themselves out. Until she met him and the complex history between him and his brother, one she found far too familiar, she didn't realize just how much she had to sort out.
The trouble was that no matter how much baggage she had to clear out of her attic, Nene was damned intent to be happy. Ignoring her problems may not have been the healthiest approach in the past, but once she found a better way to channel them into something meaningful, she remained eager to embrace life being good. As harrowing as the Algomon incident had been, the months after that were mostly peaceful. She welcomed that, along with her cool band, hot boyfriend, safe brother, and all the other things that proved to be all she ever really wanted.
Matt, on the other hand, struggled to trust happiness. He was capable of happiness, and wore it with charm when he did. But his reluctance to allow himself to reach a point of true contentedness and sustain it for any length of time tested her patience. Once Nene escaped her darkness she was determined to avoid it. Matt couldn't accept that it truly left. With him, something always had to be wrong. When those somethings became increasingly trivial matters Nene often dismissed, the rift grew. Again, Nene found the darkness drawing her back in.
"We…" All of that running through her head made it hard to stay silent. And she couldn't bring herself to lie. Not to Jeremy, who was as honest and straightforward as anyone she ever called a friend. "We are still friends." Hearing it out loud sounded less honest than the facade she had erected. She couldn't recall ever outright lying about the breakup. Everybody just carried on with their assumptions while she and Matt carried on making music.
He stood up, eyebrows narrowed. "It's true then? For how long?"
"Five months or so." She blinked, her molded face melting. "I didn't want to make a big deal about it."
"Five months?! But… I know I saw you-"
"As I said, we are still friends. I don't mind everyone assuming we're still together. There was always a certain… mystique about us. A power couple, if you will. What good would disrupting that do?"
"You're okay living a lie like this?!" That Jeremy would raise his voice over this amused her.
"What lie? Nobody ever asked us directly. I'm sure nobody fathomed the idea that we would break up."
"But you did," he said, calmer. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Nene nodded. "I am. I prefer not to think about it. We've moved on." She couldn't force her smile anymore.
"Are you? You still see each other all the time. And if everyone thinks you're together how can you be with anyone else?"
With a defensive chuckle, she answered, "Who says I want to be with anyone else?"
"Don't you want the freedom to?" She flinched, a genuine reaction escaping thanks to a genuine question. Jeremy always struck with precision. He exhaled once through his nose and returned to his work on the speaker.
She watched him in silence. Nene didn't think she was interested in another serious partner. Otherwise she would have scoured her options a lot harder during the festival, or at least flirted with Eri more. But was it because she really wasn't ready for another relationship, or because she was so determined to preserve the illusion of her and Matt? She did like freedom, and she couldn't say she had enough of it in this situation.
As Jeremy kept working, she needed to get her mind off it. Maybe even turn the tables a bit. His wording was too impeccable to go unpunished. "Everything's still good between you and Zoe, right?"
"Huh?" He turned around, finding only the most neutral expression she could manage. "Of course. Why?"
She smiled and shook her head. "If we don't ask directly, how can we be sure?"
Sora Takenouchi was furious at the butterflies that had sprouted in her stomach against all advice. She came to Isthmian for a fresh start, with different faces and different scenery and different routines. No matter how badly that was working out for her, she knew she had to be careful not to regress completely. Cutting her losses and flying south constituted an unfortunate setback. She could recover from that, no matter how embarrassing. What she couldn't do, either because the choice either confirmed her insanity or would lead to it, was reignite a relationship that had already blown up. Twice.
She and Matt made it a couple years without extravagant drama. With no major personal crises or obligations on the the front lines of any Digital World issues, they tiptoed over every potential pitfall in their way. Dates were fun, the little intimacy they allowed themselves sufficed, and after surviving literal caves of personal despair, a frustrating gig or a bad tennis performance was nothing they couldn't coach each other through.
Over time, the big jumps proved too much to overcome. The thought of hard, scary conversations about their futures, about sex, about all the subjects that risked hurting each other demanded a commitment neither were comfortable enough to oblige. Their relationship fizzled so gradually and so seamlessly few of their friends noticed a change. Since neither she nor Matt were all that open about the details of their relationship, everyone had long since stopped asking questions. Sora preferred it that way.
Their intense, desperate rekindling in the Digital World exposed all the problems. Sora and Matt blew past everything holding them back before: they had loud, ugly conversations about the future and loud, ugly sex. And oh how they hurt each other. Matt was easy to fall into, easy to love, and easy to hate. And here he was, a tempting option right as she most wanted it and least needed it.
The initial shock over Matt admitting his breakup with Nene wore off quickly. What remained was sympathy. Having done all this before, Sora knew how easy it was to just pretend nothing had changed. Matt broke this fake reality for her. That meant something. All the bad blood from before was gone, the bridges rebuilt like she'd hoped. It was there for the taking, and anyone who might shame her for it were in castles far away.
That still didn't mean it was a good idea. They still risked running into the same problems, where they either would fear exposing themselves too much or do so and end up in a dangerous place. But that was what she needed, someone to whom she could allow herself to be truly open without fearing the consequences. Yes, going back to Matt was regressive, counter to the more venturing Sora she wanted to become up here. But if she couldn't be honest with herself around Matt, who responded to the real her better than anyone, could she do it with anybody?
Anybody other than Biyomon, of course, who heard out the dilemma from the other bed in Sora's room. "If he wants to get back together, of course you should. How long did you wait for him?"
"Too long. And that was a mistake. Losing him like that made me forget how bad things were." She fell back onto her bed. "He didn't forget. That's how he ended up with Nene in the first place."
"But you did wait. You don't put yourself through that for anybody. You were always in love with him."
Sora moaned, but without much hesitation, responded, "Yeah. And maybe I still am. But I don't know if I should be. Why would this time be any different?"
"Keep trying! You two are bound to get it right one of these times!"
"No." Sora sat up. "It's too much of a fuss. Everyone here still thinks he's with Nene and it's not fair to her to have to explain it because of us."
"She stole him from you in the first place!"
"I don't want everyone to think I stole him back!" The entire perception just came off as ugly to her. She and Nene had maintained an awkward peace for months. Upsetting the Midnight general, even accidentally, was never a healthy choice.
"You could keep it secret until Matt fesses up to everyone."
She hated that idea even more. "How? Where? We can't keep it to our rooms when we're sharing them." These points of logic were handy reprieves from actually making a decision.
Emphasizing her argument, Yoshi barged into the room, Lalamon floating behind her. She stared at Biyomon on her bed, pointed, and shouted, "Hey, off!"
Biyomon fluttered to Sora's as Yoshi pulled a bag from under her bed and opened her dresser. "What's going on?" asked Sora. "I thought you were here until they sort out the Gizumon thing."
"While we're here, we're supposed to win your war for you. We'll be out for a few days. "
Queasy, Sora turned to Biyomon and got what passed for an encouraging smile back. "So… I've got the room to myself?"
Yoshi popped up and pointed an accusing finger at Biyomon. "As long as she stays off my bed. There were feathers last night." Once she returned to her packing, she said, "Otherwise, yes. Have over all the dates you want… if you stick to your side." She shook her head. "Something tells me Ryouma doesn't change the sheets enough here."
"Like you ever changed the sheets in your apartment," said Lalamon, earning a glare.
"Well, that's good news," said Biyomon, far too chirpy for Sora's taste.
"Not really," moaned Sora.
"Were you really going to use Yoshi as a reason not to make a decision on him?"
Yoshi narrowed her eyes. "Are you really trusting your Digimon for relationship advice?"
"It's not my fault you think I know what I'm talking about," said Lalamon.
Biyomon cocked her head, casting a long stare at Lalamon. "You know, between you and Gomamon I'm surprised Joe and Yoshi are still together."
Sora turned to Yoshi. "You and Joe are together?"
Hoisting her bag over her shoulder, Yoshi stood, turned around, and gestured at Biyomon. "No filters on these things! They are the worst!" She huffed out, Lalamon barely squeezing through the door before it slammed shut.
"Congratulations," Sora mumbled.
Her partner turned back to her and said, "She and Joe fit."
"They really do."
She kept staring at the door. The opportunity was there, if only for a few days. Maybe that was all she needed. Maybe it was all she should spare.
Once Sora formulated her proposal, she had to carry it out before anyone could tell her what a bad idea it was. They might not have been wrong. On paper it sounded awful, the worst kind of indulgence. Sora knew herself and Matt better than that. If nobody truly cared, as Matt argued, they were all that mattered.
Matt was habitual enough to find, out on a walk outside the castle with Gabumon. Biyomon could run interference easily enough, removing the Digimon and giving them time to talk alone. It's what they needed most.
They watched the pair scamper away, waiting until they were out of eavesdropping range before saying anything. Matt knew what this was about. "I'm not expecting anything, you know. If you want to pretend that didn't happen, I'm fine with it."
"It did happen. And we should talk about it," Sora remained curt.
"I thought we already did." Once Matt confessed his status with Nene, he huffed, said he'd see her around, and left before she could respond. Only he would have considered that talking about it.
Not that she didn't read into it. She was fluent in Matt. "I'm not going to start hating you because you kissed me. You've done a lot worse."
"So why are we still here?"
"I don't know." That was the big question, wasn't it? How every sign pointing them far away from each other led them down roads that still converged in the end. "But we are. And we'd be stupid not to do something about it."
Matt bit his lip, discomfort all over. Yet he asked, "What do you suggest?"
"One night. Starting with dinner. Going through breakfast."
He shook his head angrily. "That's not what this is about. You think that's all I want?"
"Let me finish." She was prepared for that reaction. "For this one night… we're together. In every sense of the word. Everything's out in the open. No being polite. No being scared. We let it all out."
Matt froze, anger and uncertainty still in his eyes. "We need to see where we are with each other," she added. "But we shouldn't pretend we can just get back together and everything will work out."
"So one night where we just let loose and go all in? Then what?"
"Then it's over." Sora scratched her arm. "I mean let's be honest, neither of us can handle that for more than a day." She took a deep breath. This was the weird part. "So no matter what, we take a break. Maybe we realize that was all we needed, maybe we stay friends. Maybe we remember why this was a bad idea and keep our distance."
"Or… maybe we do it again later."
She stared back. That was Matt-speak for willingness to give it a shot. That was hopeful. "Yeah, maybe. I know it's a little insane, but I don't how much we can take of each other right now. I just don't want it to be nothing."
Matt gave away a faint smile. "I'll take as much as you're offering." He leaned in for a simple kiss, just a second, just a promise. "I'll see you tonight."
The rush of bliss lasted until Matt left to find their Digimon. Then the dread set it. Sora could word their night to be as open and frank and healthy as possible. Actually following through without falling into the traps they laid for themselves was another matter.
Meiko Mochizuki believed in the best of people. She had assumed the affection the Odaiba digidestined showed her was a natural overwhelming kindness rather than a pragmatic response to her situation. She had trusted that Maki was only looking out for her and Meicoomon's safety when she kept them hidden and insisted on probing the root of the problem in secrecy. She had accepted that Eri was defending the well-being of all the new arrivals and her spats with Tai signaled frustration more than true disdain or rebellion. Meiko dreaded being wrong on all three counts.
By sticking close to Tai through their last night at Isthmian and ride back to the settlement, she avoided having to deal with Eri. Neither wanted to think about her or Haru any longer than they needed to, and together they didn't have to. But once the train pulled into the settlement and Meiko got off, they were stuck. Tai had to investigate what exactly Eri had done to have any hope of making a disciplinary case to the reps. Meiko could only hide next to other unaware internationals for so long. At some point she would have to interact with Eri. She had no idea how to navigate that.
Hauling her luggage back to her room afforded her some sanctuary, but not solitude. Mimi and Palmon were at her desk, the girl flipping pages and entering them on Meiko's computer at light speed. "Welcome back!" she cheered, not breaking her concentration.
"Did… I give you computer access?" Of course Meiko trusted Mimi, but too much talk about abusing the river system unnerved her.
"Oh, a while ago I figured out how to get in so I wouldn't have to bother Jeri for little stuff." Mimi spun around and winked back. "Don't tell her this but her password's super weak."
Meiko cringed. "I bet someone will let her know."
She dropped her bag next to the extended and unmade futon. After some hesitation, she removed her shoes and stretched out on it. At some point she'd have to go back out there and figure out what to say to Eri. With Mimi still taking care of her job, she could afford a few minutes to ponder. Dozing off didn't even sound terrible.
Only a minute of staring at the ceiling passed before the bed rustled. Mimi sprawled out next to her, narrow eyes probing back. "What's wrong? Come on, no bottling it." With a huff, she added, "What did Tai do? Do I need to make Yolei beat him up?"
Meiko let a chuckle escape. As well as she thought she had been doing before, having Mimi back as a regular part of her life was pure delight. "It isn't Tai. He was great. Actually it's, um… Eri."
"Eri?!" Mimi's eyes flared. "What did Eri do?! I don't think Yolei could beat her up."
"It's…" Meiko wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it, but there was no hiding from Mimi. "Well, what do you make of Eri?"
"Oh, she's great. Feisty and can back it up!" She leaned in. "Why, what's wrong?"
"I always thought that too. But what if she was doing something that… wasn't right?"
"Like what?"
Meiko shook her head. "I don't know exactly. But it could be… bad."
"Well, I'm all for making her tell the truth. I'm ready when you're ready. Palmon will hold down the fort!" Palmon had taken Mimi's spot at Meiko's desk, her vines filing papers.
"I'm not ready!" Meiko squeaked. "Even if I knew what she did I don't know how I feel about it. It's… it's awfully heavy."
Mimi's grin faded. Meiko didn't want to elaborate. How could Mimi appreciate the ambiguity over Eri's actions and how personal they were to Meiko?
Instead of following up, Mimi said, "Say it to her face. You two seem like good friends. Tell her what you're thinking."
"But I don't know what I'm supposed to think."
"Who cares what you're supposed to think? Tell her what you really think." A leg slid up and forward and pressed against Meiko's stomach. The grin returned. "Come on! The longer you wait the harder it gets!"
There wasn't enough weight to budge her, but she still moaned back, "Mimi, no!"
Through clenched teeth, Mimi answered, "Nope, we're all friends here and friends communicate!"
Meiko relented, more in surrender than force or attrition. She rolled out of bed and put her shoes back on, hiding a quick, frustrated glare at Mimi. With any luck, Eri would be somewhere far away and she wouldn't run into her.
Instead, she was right outside the door. "Let me talk," she demanded, her eyes down, her breathing heavy.
Meiko glanced into the room, getting a thumb's up from Mimi before shutting the door behind her. Her back still to Eri, she asked, "Is it true? Your friends went behind Tai's back to bring someone back from the dead? And you helped?"
"You make it sound so wrong," Eri muttered. "You don't understand what Yuujin meant to him."
The shudder came, that pang of love for Meicoomon she'd come to despise. "I think I do."
"Then why don't you get it? What Haru would do for him?"
"I can't," Meiko said sharply, turning around. "'Cause that kind of thinking was what got Mei killed. And you…" She choked up, a stranger to anger. "You ripped Tai apart for how he handled Henry. And-"
"That's different! Haru's not hurting anybody! Yuujin isn't dangerous!"
Straining for a comeback against Eri's angry pleas, Meiko's hands shook. Her mind blanked, unable to form a response. So she fled, back into the safety of her office where she could heave and convince herself she wasn't weak enough for tears.
Mimi was still on the bed, but sitting, her head down. "I'm sorry, Meiko." She shook her head. "I heard enough. I didn't realize it… got into that."
"It's worse than that," Meiko mumbled. "Eri's right about everything. Please don't be right about this."
Standing and drawing her into a comforting embrace, Mimi said, "You have to trust yourself. And Tai. She can't be right about everything. She's wrong about this. I know it."
She calmed in Mimi's arms, but the doubt didn't go away. It carried extra stakes. She couldn't think about having Meicoomon back for a second. Not even if it was safe. She would have wanted it too much.
TK Takaishi knew he had to handle Kari with care. He couldn't dismiss any sincere admiration she had for Davis, but he also couldn't accept all of it without scrutiny. How much of Rhythm had infected her, and how hard would it be to make Kari see the danger of it?
With Davis out on a response team mission and Tai occupied with a million other problems, TK leaned in during their shift and asked to talk in private.
"It's not a good time," she replied. "We're in the middle of a mission and we're a little light right now." Thomas was the only other one at the bank of workstations.
"Go ahead," he said. "It's just Monzaemon and Pandamon having another argument. It even let me avoid sending Takato or Rika."
"You know things are bad when Yolei's playing peacekeeper." Kari pulled her headphones off and stretched. "Okay, TK, I'm all yours."
He waited until they were downstairs in the server/break room and Kari had a cup of water before saying anything. She let out a relaxed sign on the old couch. He hated disrupting that peace.
"What's wrong?" Even that came out too pacified.
TK remained standing. "What if you aren't actually in love with Davis? What if it's actually Rhythm?"
Kari sobered quickly, glaring ahead without giving too much away. She answered slowly. "Well… it's weird saying I'm in love with him. I just… like him. A lot." She nodded, satisfied with her own answer. "And Rhythm does too."
"But that's what I'm worried about. What if it's Rhythm making you think you like him?"
"TK, don't be silly. She wouldn't do that."
"How do you know?"
She paused, looking around for a suitable answer. Unable to find one, she conceded, "I guess I don't. But it's a strong feeling. She couldn't make me do anything I really don't want to."
"But you haven't had that feeling before. Definitely not towards Davis."
"Well…" She lowered her head. "It wasn't this strong before, but maybe a little. We… got a lot closer while you were missing, so…"
It stung to hear, an annoying reaction making TK doubt his own impartiality. "But… you didn't want to act on it until now."
"No." But Kari hedged. "But there was a lot going on. It took a while to move on after Izzy. And then the whole thing with Tora."
Tora… that was important. That suggested a lot. "Yeah, what about Tora? You were fawning over him, he takes you on the date of your life, he makes a move… and you froze up."
Her eyebrows narrowed. "It was more complicated than that," she said, stern.
"Was it? A little harmless fun with a cute guy you actually like?" He added a smile, hoping to relieve some tension.
It didn't work. "It wasn't going to lead anywhere. We both knew it couldn't work."
"But you didn't really try, did you?"
"No… I…" She shook her head. "I don't know. It doesn't matter. It felt weird and I couldn't make a decision."
"But getting together with Davis out of the blue, after all these years, just made total sense and you didn't hesitate?"
Kari stared back with skepticism, but nodded in time. "Yeah. That's what happened." She frowned. "I guess that's a little odd."
"You know when Rhythm wants to take over, right?"
"Usually." She glanced aside. "Sometimes she just does it. I… don't like when she just does it."
TK held his stare. "She can change how you think. That's dangerous."
She shook her head. "She couldn't be changing things that much. It's not like… I want to dress different or don't like ice cream now or something."
"What's your favorite color?"
"Huh?"
He gestured towards her. "First thing that comes to mind. What's your favorite color?"
She cocked her head, obliging, "Still pink."
"Favorite song?"
"It's… no, you made fun of me last time I said it. Does Rhythm even get to listen to music?"
TK pondered. Both answers were correct. But neither were personal for Rhythm. He asked, "Who's your favorite Digimon besides Gatomon?"
"Hmm…"
"First answer in your head."
"Okay, uh, Agumon." She chuckled. "Both of them."
Another fair answer… except it dawned on TK that it wasn't. "Both of them?"
Kari shrugged. "I don't know. Marcus's Agumon is fun too. Is that a problem?"
"I mean he did kill Patamon."
"Oh, right…" She looked down. "Sorry. I… don't know why I said that." Her eyes glossed over as she considered the implications. "You don't really think Rhythm would make me say that, right?"
With a voice cold and sober, TK explained, "When Matt and I were knocked out, I had a dream where I was in Marcus's world. Agumon was there fighting Algomon with me. I remember thinking he was amazing."
He took a deep breath. "Everyone thinks I saw that through Rhythm's eyes."
Zoe Orimoto got the answer to the mystery like she wanted. Nene and Matt had broken up, just like Izzy predicted. All the pieces fit into place, and all the talk proved to be justified. Sending Jeremy in was a masterful stroke on her part.
It wasn't satisfying at all.
As much as she reveled in uncovering the secrets of their relationship, there was nothing to celebrate in knowing it was over. She liked Nene and wanted nothing but her happiness. However it came about, there had to be some element of stress and lamentation. If Nene didn't share it with anybody—or at least anybody human—she bore this pain by herself. Zoe hadn't picked up on it, despite teaming with her for plenty of investigation team work in that time frame.
What's worse, Zoe thought she and Nene had a nice friendship going. They were the girls on the team, and after suffering through an adventure with the likes of Takuya and JP, Zoe loved having another girl on her team. As it turned out, she wasn't close enough to be privy to Nene's updated relationship status. There were opportunities: Zoe poked her about the band often enough, and at least once in the last five months she asked about their sex life. Nene even obliged with a couple lurid details. Zoe thought they could share this kind of stuff. She figured Nene could have used the outlet. She must have been wrong.
At least Zoe had an outlet. Izzy was on his laptop in the library, as always, still obsessed with Yaddith and Gizumon and such things Zoe probably should have cared more about. She pulled up a chair next to him and patted him on the back. He jolted and blushed.
"Congratulations! You were right about Matt and Nene."
He looked back, not amused, hesitating before responding with a simple "oh." He returned to the computer. "They really separated, huh? That's a shame."
When he didn't add anything, she slumped her shoulders. "Yeah, I feel the same way. We spent all this time trying to figure out what was going on with them and it's… just kind of sad."
Izzy turned just enough to catch her with his eye. "You were trying to figure it out. I just wanted to make sure Matt wasn't mad at me." He returned to his work for a moment before adding, "How did you find out?"
"Jeremy got it out of her. See, he's good for a few things."
He frowned, eyes narrowing, taken aback either by something on the screen or in her words. Just as quickly, he shook his head and returned to his prior indifferent expression.
"What?" she asked. He shook his head again. Zoe leaned in, almost touching his neck. "No, really, what? I need a distraction."
Izzy leaned away, his hand fidgeting on his mouse. "I… know I shouldn't be asking, but do you not enjoy spending time with Jeremy?"
It was her turn to lean back, hands raising in defense. "What? No! We spend a lot of time together. He's just very… intense. Sometimes I need a break." Zoe calmed down, arms lowering. "Everything's fine."
After processing it for a moment, Izzy returned to the screen, rushing out a mumbled, "Good. Sorry."
She sat in silence as he resumed. It was true: she and Jeremy were fine. She loved having Jeremy at her side. He was reliable and devoted and showered her with enough attention and affection to keep her warm and satisfied. It didn't cease her relentless struggle with boredom, but she had never had a relationship so comfortable.
At some point in her musing, her focus had drifted away from Izzy. When it returned, she caught his eyes straying back to her. She flashed a smile, shooting them straight back to the screen.
The eyes narrowed as Izzy leaned in on a random bit of code. "Hmm… was that there before?"
Zoe leaned in. "Was what there? What are you looking at?"
"I pinged the server Yaddith came from. I know that sounds silly."
"No, I know ping is something computery. Something about testing a connection, right?"
He hid a grin. "Right. It sends a data packet somewhere to test the response time. The test itself was normal. But the data that came back…" Izzy pointed at a line of code.
She waited for him to point something out. It looked like the usual gibberish.
"Spaces. Why are there spaces?" he asked.
Zoe watched him carefully as he puzzled it over. It seemed like such an arbitrary question, but the urgency on his face suggested he was on the cusp of learning something crucial. "Crucial" with this research meant saving lives.
"Uh… well… how could they get there?" she asked, despite not knowing what they meant.
"It would have picked them up along the way. But… how? Unless it was…" He pondered the possibilities further. She let him, hoping in silence he'd figure it out and have his moment of revelation.
It came, as always, with his eyes shooting open and a cry of "Prodigious!"
She held back a smile, but her eyes gleamed. "Something good?"
His head shot to her. "Horrible, actually. Something might be adding these spaces to the code."
"Uh, what can a space do?" His excitement delighted her, but the details were evasive.
"Things can go in spaces."
She giggled. "Okay…?"
He grinned back. "We've been looking for some sort of code that could activate Yaddith or Gizumon. All we've got are these spaces. But if something undetectable was in these spaces…"
"They could mess everything up." Zoe started to see it now. The smile came out. "But what could it be?"
"A Digimon, an Appmon, who knows? But if it's something alive, it can think. And if it can think, it can have an agenda. That's what we were missing before. Code doesn't have an agenda, only whoever enters it."
"And the spaces can help you find it?"
He leaned in towards her, his smile growing. "This could be it! This may be the breakthrough that can stop whatever's doing this!"
Zoe leaned in more until her face was an inch away from hers. There, sharing in the mutual euphoria of revelation, the bad thought struck. It was wrong and perfect and she wanted it completed. She caught it fast enough and leaned away, her smile fading.
Calmer, at least on the outside, she asked, "So… what next?"
Izzy frowned and let out a breath, before nodding back, decorum re-established. "I have to keep digging. Find a source point and a way to stop it." He faced his screen again. "And do it before anything else shows up."
"I'll, um… leave you to it then." Izzy gave her one last glance before nodding again. He never turned away. Zoe left, getting well out of the room before stopping to notice how heavy her breathing had gotten. She ran into the bathroom, planting her hands on the sink and staring into the mirror. Her head shook in discouragement.
"Closed for maintenance!" Jeremy's voice called out behind her. She gasped and spun around as he pulled himself out from under a toilet behind her. "Oh, Zoe! The sign must have fallen down again."
Zoe took the opening to turn to the floor sign, still leaning against the wall. "You always have bad luck with those."
Jeremy set the sign in place. "Well, no exceptions! I'm going to have to ask to you to leave."
She stared at the closed door, then the sign, then him. Her breathing never did calm down. "Or… we've got the room to ourselves…"
"What do you mean?" Zoe charged in and kissed him, long enough to send the message. "Zoe!" he cried as she pulled back.
Before he could protest, she clutched the bottom of his shirt and pushed him into a stall.
Davis Motomiya hit the bath to recuperate from stress more than get clean. Knowing Thomas weighed everyone's row with the tamers in his deployment decisions wore Davis down more than the mission itself. Soaking in the bath, he imagined Takato joining him by coincidence. There would be an awkward silence, then a joke about the awkward silence, then a conversation, then they'd hammer out a peace accord that resolved this whole mess and everything would go back to normal.
The door slid open, raising his hopes, but it was only TK. Davis shouted back a greeting, but TK only nodded in acknowledgment and scrubbed up. The silence made Davis wonder if there was some immature grudge about Kari, but that was TK's problem, not his, and the thought drifted away in the warm water. TK finished and joined him in the bath, not making eye contact for the first minute or so. Again, Davis didn't sweat it, letting him take his own time to unwind.
The shot came fast and without warning: "You need to end this with Kari."
David had a flinch of shock, not at the thought but that TK was actually airing it out loud. He smirked and leaned back in the water. "C'mon TK, you've got a girl now. I helped you get her even!"
TK shook his head in frustration. "It's not Kari who's in love with you. It's Rhythm!"
Maybe that was supposed to come out as some big revelation. Davis could only focus on one thing, and he let out a giddy chuckle. "You think Rhythm might really be in love with me?"
"Why does that matter?"
"You're right. We know we have something special. Who cares what we call it?"
His own musings and thoughts of Rhythm made him forget about TK until hearing the commotion of nearby water. TK sloshed up next to him, teeth clenched.
"So Kari doesn't matter at all?!"
"Of course Kari matters!" Davis wasn't defensive or taken aback by the sudden confrontational attitude, but he was getting annoyed. "We're not doing anything she's not okay with."
"She's passed out half the time!"
"Yeah, so all we can do is talk!" Both his voice and body rose, standing alongside his teammate. It was a awful line of suggestion. How irresponsible did TK think he was? "Even if I wanted to get all touchy, it's not like Rhythm could feel it anyway." It came out more bitter than TK would have liked.
TK persisted: "What if she could? What if she wanted to try?"
"Try what? I don't think Rhythm knows about that stuff anyway."
"And I'm supposed to believe it's never come up with Kari, right?"
"Nope! It's all good." TK's glare didn't go away. "What?!"
"You've never suggested it?"
"No!" Davis shouted even louder. "Why's that so hard to believe?"
"I don't buy that you wouldn't want to." TK's voice calmed down enough to make a more sensible point. "Because that was the problem with her and Izzy. They couldn't talk about it."
Davis sighed, simmering down enough to confess: "Have I thought about it? I guess. But look, it doesn't seem like a good idea, so-"
"Why not?"
He didn't appreciate the interruption. "Why what?"
"Why isn't it a good idea?" TK shrugged. "Bring it up and see what she says."
Davis laughed to himself. "You seriously want me to ask if Kari wants to…" He couldn't get it out, laughing even louder.
"Why not? You're taking advantage of her every other way."
A hand clenched into a fist. He almost lunged. "Don't push it TB! It's like you think I forget Kari's even there!"
"Well who's more important then? Kari or Rhythm?"
Davis kept seething, but he didn't respond. There wasn't a right answer, either in truth or to pacify TK. "Everything we do goes through Kari. We won't hurt her."
TK still steamed. "That doesn't answer my question. And how do you know you're not hurting her?"
"We ask her, dummy."
"It's Kari. She never puts herself first. If she actually thinks you and Rhythm like each other like that, she won't say no to anything."
"Hey, Rhythm didn't kiss me. Kari did!"
"Are you sure about that?"
Davis opened his mouth to say yes, but hesitated. Going over the moment again… he had too many doubts. He sunk back into the water.
TK continued, "We know Rhythm's not only in Kari's head when she takes over. Who knows what she's pushing her into? We should be getting her to leave Kari alone. You're making all of this worse."
"Yeah, and what about Rhythm?!" Davis popped up again, full of defensive energy. "Can you imagine how lonely it has to be for her? She helped make this world but can't even be part of it!" TK's face flashed more and more anger but Davis didn't stop. "We all met her in that other world, remember? She was cool… and, and really happy to actually get to talk to us for once. I just want to keep that going. Everyone deserves to have friends, TK. Rhythm's no exception."
"Well if she's so cool, maybe she should think about what she's doing to people." TK's voice stayed low, the fire burning under every word. "And if she won't, then somebody needs to stop her."
He returned a smug grin. "Well she's a god, so good luck with that."
"We've fought gods before."
"You trying to threaten her or something?" Davis's voice rose again, fist still clenched.
TK didn't answer, only glaring back, teeth exposed. Their arguing turned into a silent stalemate, standing their ground in the heated bathwater.
The door broke their concentration. Both turned to find Takato, a towel around his body, staring back at them.
"Um… actually I'll hop in later," he mumbled before closing the door again.
Ken Ichijouji knew things were falling apart. Yaddith sowed a degree of shock and distrust that brought the worst emotions out of everybody and nobody was prepared to stop. It wasn't the showy sort of argument that brought out yelling and fistfighting. Everyone could deal with lost tempers and passionate words. Those kinds of quick cuts healed easily. This was more complicated, philosophical even. The injuries ran deeper and festered faster. It challenged the core of who everybody was.
The lack of loud reactions also made Command hesitant to intervene. Their reasoning was that everyone involved were decent and could settle things on their own. Only they didn't, retreating to their corners and stubborn in their insistence that the other side was being unreasonable and would come around soon enough. Once Thomas started splitting the two sides up on non-critical response team missions, it was clear Command was impatient for a reconciliation.
That was the trouble: what were they supposed to reconcile? Nobody questioned anyone's professionalism: should a major crisis arrive, everyone would have each other's backs like they should. But nobody could make Ken or Davis or Yolei be friends with the tamers again. Nobody could separate the tamers from Yaddith, or make them realize just how devastating their plans were.
Someone could have probably made Ken take Rika back. He and Wormmon watched her playing cards alone on the opposite end of the hall. Renamon didn't even keep her as much company of late. Ken knew the feeling. He had been there. He wanted to sweep her away from it. But he knew he couldn't.
"Do you think she's sorry yet?" asked Wormmon.
"I don't know." Ken kept staring. "I don't know if she can be."
Before the urge to approach her grew too strong, a different tamer approached him. "Hey Ken." Henry sat down with Terriermon before asking, "Can we talk?"
Ken eyed him warily. Henry kept his eyes low and his face straight, traces of frustration maybe but no resentment or impatience. "What's on your mind?" he replied.
"I can't wait for this to go away anymore. Something needs to happen."
"Ken, do you want us to go?" asked Wormmon, facing at his partner first, then Terriermon.
Henry looked up at him, the first eye contact he made. "No." He paused, still staring hard. "If we've figured out anything from this, it's that we're worse off without you guys."
Clearing his throat, Ken asked, "Are you sure you shouldn't be talking to Davis?"
"I'm not sure about anything right now. And you're right, this feels like it should be Davis and Takato figuring it out." He shook his head. "But why? Because they're the leaders? Like we're at war all of a sudden?"
Before Ken could respond, he continued, "No… we're all friends. We're all on the same team."
"For Pete's sake, you both dated the same girl!" Terriermon blurted.
Henry ignored him. "We want Takato and Davis to settle it because we're too scared to do it ourselves." He sighed. "Cause really, this isn't about them. Not as much as it's about us."
Ken hesitated to respond. Wormmon didn't: "Why's it about Ken?"
"Because it hurt you the most." Henry bit his lip, leaning away, struggling to spit out more. "I don't want to bring up your past but… you own your mistakes. More than you need to, to be honest." As uneasy as it made Ken, he stayed silent, letting Wormmon dab a tiny leg on his hand for comfort. "And then there's us, our big secret out and nearly killing everyone at the settlement… and we can't bring ourselves to say we were wrong."
Ken kept a calm face. No, he didn't like his past drudged up, but the delivery was… diplomatic enough. He looked at Wormmon. Somehow he could always read when his partner's beady eyes were stern and forceful. Turning back to Henry, he was equally diplomatic in response: "That's where we seem to be, yes."
Henry stared him in the eyes and declared, "Creating Yaddith was a mistake."
It was an important admission, no doubt, but Ken didn't react to something so obvious to him. But Henry steeled his face, his teeth clenched and his eyes focused. Only his eyebrows gave him away, turning up and wavering just enough to suggest just how hard that was to say aloud.
At once, Henry lowered his head. "I'm sure I knew it at the time. I'm sure that's why I couldn't activate it. I'm… sure that's why I put up with them screaming at me about it." Ken winced. Henry's remorse may have been sincere, but Rika was one of the screamers.
"Sorry." Henry must have noticed. "I know I'm only speaking for myself here."
"And…" Ken took a breath. Diplomatic… "I appreciate you telling me this, but you understand that it's not you that's bothered me so much. I believe you when you say you've learned." What he left out was that this didn't help anything.
Henry took longer to respond. When he did, it came with a hard stare and a forceful energy, despite the shaky hand and those same sad eyebrows. "I'm resigning from my officer position."
Ken's eyes flashed wide. "But… Henry, you don't have to do that. The leaders met about it. You survived. And it doesn't fix anything."
"That's what I thought all this time. I figured I was the sane one then, so why should I be punished? I could lay low and wait for everyone to stop being mad."
Ken nodded along. It would have worked. With the internationals out of the picture, it was really only Ken's team holding any sort of ire. They wouldn't have held it forever.
"But if I did that…" Henry concluded. "That lets Takato and Rika believe I didn't do anything wrong. And if they won't accept that I did anything wrong, they won't think they did either. Cause in the end, I made the stupid program. It has to be on me."
"And you'll tell them that?"
"Who? Takato and Rika?" Terriermon scoffed. "Yeah, right."
Henry chuckled despite himself. "We can tell them all we want. They might even believe it. They won't care." Ken bristled, but Henry continued, "I think that's where you guys need to meet us. Because no matter how much you think they're out of line thinking the way they do… I can't judge them."
Ken kind of understood. Bonds with Digimon were supposed to be unbreakable. That sturdiness gave them so much power. But they broke anyway. And going too far to restore that defied the reason for having it to begin with.
Shifting in his seat and avoiding eye contact again, Henry said, "I'm not trying to sell anyone's bonds with their Digimon short. I know how you and Wormmon feel about each other. But… you have to understand. We became one being with our Digimon. A feeling like that is… it doesn't go away, no matter what our bodies do. We're still one being."
For all of the times Ken's heart synced with Davis's, he never thought about it that way, but he also wasn't the one sharing the body. He looked at Wormmon, who nodded. "It's hard to describe… but as Imperialdramon I… feel more complete."
"We spent those six years feeling like a part of us was missing. It hurt. Every day. Like we had to live every day without part of our bodies. It was…" He fell silent, head falling, eyes swirling with the memories.
Terriermon set a paw on his shoulder. "It's okay, Henry. Don't force yourself." He looked at Ken, who nodded, turning away as he recalled similar feelings.
Henry shook his head. "I know it was selfish. I know it was wrong. But I'm not sorry for trying to do something about it. Anything to be a little less helpless." He faced Ken again. "And nothing we do will change how Rika and Takato feel."
Ken slumped in his seat. He understood, but how could he accept this side of her?
"So we're back at the beginning," Wormmon said.
With a pained look, Henry said, "My resigning tells everyone things aren't going back to normal. We need to forget how it was. We need to figure out how it's going to be."
As much as he nodded along and understood what Henry was getting at, Ken was still stuck. It didn't help that Henry added, "What are you thinking about Rika?"
"I don't know," he answered, glancing at her down the hall. "I guess if she isn't going to change I should accept this part of her-"
"I never said that," Henry blurted, drawing Ken's eyes back. "I get how hard this is to take. If you can't handle it… look, Rika's going to be fine. She's the toughest person we know. And me and Renamon and Jeri and Takato… we'll take care of her. You need to make a decision."
Ken sat back in his chair, staring at Wormmon as if he'd have all the answers. He'd been struggling with this choice since walking away that first time. Times he wanted to meet her halfway. Times he never wanted to look at her again. He even considered tagging along to Isthmian to talk to Maki to try to understand Rika's mindset before everybody shouted him down.
Wormmon's eyes were sympathetic but certain. If Ken really looked, everything pointed in one direction. Another glance at Henry and Terriermon was enough. It had to happen now.
He stood up and walked straight to Rika. Her eyes steeled when they caught him, looking up from her game and feigning hardness. Ken ignored it, wasting no time to charge in and pull her up off her feet and into a hug.
She choked up a few times, the edge coming off no matter what her eyes said. Her hands wrapped around him. "I forgive you," he said. Rika eased further into comfort.
He pulled away, stared into her eyes, her clenched jaw the only trace of composure left. "But I can't be with you. I'm sorry." Ken stared at her one more time, eyes tensing with both sadness and anger. He walked away before they could explode at him one way or the other, Wormmon catching up and joining him on the way to the elevator.
Before he reached them he turned around. Henry had Rika in his arms, her eyes cold, dark, and tearless. He turned back to Ken and nodded back. She wasn't alone. It was enough solace Ken needed to keep going.
Matt Ishida sat on Sora's bed, staring at the cards and trying to decide which one complimented his sushi platter best. He wasn't all that engrossed in the game, but it was the only sharable entertainment in the room. He looked over at Sora, staring back at him with unsettled eyes. Given the margin she was winning, he would have expected her to be dialed in on ways to crush him. Instead it was more of an embarrassed pity.
"Having fun?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Biyomon likes to play with me. It's more fun once you've played a couple times. But we can stop."
"Nah, let's finish. I just didn't think we'd be playing games tonight."
The random card game may not have been expected, but their stagnating night as a couple was easy to predict. Dinner was fine: she crushed the evening's soba meal and he was happy to hear her talk about it, both for the conversation and in hopes of stealing the recipe. The late night walk was a peaceful kind of quiet. Once he remembered he was allowed to take her hand, words weren't necessary. But back in her room, the silly game was their last-ditch distraction against the awkwardness.
They finished in relative silence, punctuated with Sora occasionally reminding him of a rule he didn't bother remembering or Matt moaning about her beating him to a crucial card. The result was a foregone conclusion, despite the number of times she insisted there were always surprises at the end. In his head, he stashed away a number of strategies to win next time, and wanted to try them out when he was in a different mood. But he let her pack the game up in silence and put it away.
Now it was just them sitting on a bed. Dangerous as it was, he had no urge for intimacy. The feelings that had swept over him the night before hadn't reappeared, even when playing romantic on their walk.
"Suppose we could just go to bed," he suggested, eying the empty bed on the opposite wall.
Sora bristled at the thought. "Yoshi said stay off her bed."
"Yoshi won't be back for a few days." With some pause, he added, "Even if you were okay with it, these beds are too small to share."
"But we are supposed to be okay with it." Sora shook her head. "That was the point. Treat each other like we were together again."
"How?" The time together and basic gestures were easy and welcome enough. He assumed the charade would be sufficient. As if he could be aware of the difference between how he treated Sora when they were and weren't dating. That lack of distinction is how so few noticed they had broken up back home. "Besides, we've never actually shared a real bed before."
"I don't know…" Something came to her and she came in sharper: "Okay, how is it different between you and Nene now?"
"You really want to talk about me and Nene?" he asked in disbelief.
"You really don't? Matt, she broke up with you. Who have you talked to about it?"
He grumbled. "Gabumon."
She stared back with disapproval. "The first time it was fine because we had our own people to talk to. Your band, the girls in the flower shop…"
"Annoying as it was, TK figuring it out was useful," he conceded.
"Who's here for you?" she asked pointedly. "Everyone assumes things are fine between you two and they aren't and you're… what? Acting like it doesn't hurt?"
Matt shook it away, muttering, "This is what we talk about when we're dating? Our exes?"
Sora shrugged. "Why not?" She looked down. "I haven't felt right since leaving Takuya. You can't pretend you don't feel it."
A smirk crept up to let a chuckle out. "Guess you can't turn it into a song." It faded. "That's how I let it out."
She thought for a moment. "Wait, all those were about Nene?" she said, astonished.
"Most of them, yeah."
"And you perform them with her?"
"She thinks they're about Tai."
"Everyone does."
He rolled his eyes. Granted, of the songs he had written post-breakup, about a fourth of them were still about Tai.
"That has to be frustrating," she said. "You put your heart out in the open like that and everyone reads it wrong."
He nodded sadly. "Izzy actually thought I was mad Nene kissed him."
"You weren't?"
"I… I would have been." Moaning, he said, "What, do you want me to spill everything? We're doing this for one night, then we're back to avoiding each other."
She scratched her arm. "We… don't have to."
"That was what you said. One night, then it's over no matter what."
"Do you… want to keep going?" she asked cautiously.
"It never started." He grunted, eyes wandering the room. "We have dinner, hold hands for a bit and play a card game about sushi. Who are we kidding?"
"Not the dating," she said, shaking her head. "We'll get fed up with each other again if we try it. But talking… you could hear who I'm fed up with instead."
He turned back to her. Her smile was slight, but his favorite. The one that poked through the bad times, daring to find its way out and defy the gloom. Both struggled to insist on optimism. The rare times Sora did it infected him.
"I bet we're fed up with the same people." His words came out more naturally, more jovially.
"Takuya and Ryouma?"
They both chuckled. The mutual laughter amplified the joy. When they calmed down, he said, "So… friends?"
"How about best friends?" Her eyes narrowed, locked into his. "We could try sharing this stuff with each other instead of bottling it up like we always do." They opened, sadder. "We used to do that."
And not dating meant no expectations, no paranoia over whether she was really happy, no pressure… it sounded too easy. He needed a moment to convince himself to try it.
"Best friends… that can work," he said. Her smile grew. This was closer to pure elation, her eyes welling a little even. This was his second-favorite smile. He returned it. "But if we do the friend thing I want a rematch on that sushi game."
They laughed again, both smiling, staring into each other's eyes as it subsided. Still too awkward for him, and his head wavered. "So are we supposed to… hug or something?"
She shook her head. "Who knows?" They left it there.
Then it was awkward again. They looked away, shook their heads, and eyed everything but each other. Sora turned back to him; his eyes returned in an instant. "This worked out better than I expected." She glanced at her clock. "We even still have eight hours before we break up."
"For a third time." She faced him again, the best smile returning, maybe more mischievous, but still as defiant.
They rushed together at once, arms around each other, lips interlocking in just the right way as they always had. Her legs wrapped around his, squeezing him in closer. Eight more hours was just about long enough.
Kari Kamiya laid in Davis's bed, trying to control her mind enough to get a clear idea of what to do. The start of the evening was fine, talking about his mission with Yolei and Astra, something funny she heard Herissmon say in the habitat, and a silly card game about sushi they had developed a fierce rivalry playing. From here, the night usually turned into kissing, then stopping before going too far, then Rhythm taking over from there. She dreaded all of those, enough to make her question why she never considered skipping their date night entirely.
Davis seemed just as hesitant about proceeding, eyes switching from stolen glances in her direction and the manga on his nightstand. Kari had no such distractions. Instead, she closed her eyes. She was not at all tired, but maybe she could sort everything out in her head without risking any compromising activity.
The answer ringing inside came clear and distinct: "You should kiss him."
Her eyes shot open and she rolled on her side to face him. Davis's eyes found her, but he didn't move. Kari paused… what good would kissing him do? She wanted to—at least she thought she wanted to—but after TK's test earlier in the day she couldn't trust the forces compelling her.
She rolled back, unable to close her eyes now. The compulsion was loud, certain, and countered every logical impulse in her body. Kari always had a tenuous relationship with certainty. As satisfying as the feeling offered, she didn't always know where it came from. The doubt that lingered over most of her decisions, bothersome as it was, offered some comfort that she had put enough thought into the possibilities.
The lack of doubt meant trouble. She never doubted seeing monsters fighting in the neighborhood when she was four, no matter how much the grown-ups laughed it off. She never doubted navigating an underground city, even if it meant surrendering control to a higher power. She never doubted the dark forces calling to her to join them in their world. Now she couldn't even trust something as innocent as an attraction to a good friend. Certainty always meant one of two things: the inability to deny something horrible in front of her, or something else hijacking her mind.
"I'll take my turn now," said Rhythm within Kari's head.
How often did Kari accept this without questioning it, another certainty fooling her into complacency? Now that she was aware of the danger, she could react: "No, not this time," she replied.
"Are you sure? I want to hear how things are going."
With the voice came a piercing desire to let Rhythm have her way, so overwhelming Kari hated herself for ever thinking it could be natural. She clenched her brow, fighting to resist it. Her head began to ache, sweat dotting her forehead. "No… no, not today," was her message back.
Even as the whole conversation happened in her head, her shifting in discomfort had caught Davis's attention. "Kari? You okay?"
Rhythm kept prodding her into surrendering control, Kari writhing as she fought off the urge. "It's just for a few minutes." Rhythm's voice was calm and pacifying. "What's the matter?"
"Not today. Please not today," she mumbled. Part of her thought resisting to prove to herself she could resist was silly. But where was that part coming from?
Davis clutched her shoulders. "Not today what? What's wrong?" She didn't realize she'd said it out loud.
Kari forced her eyes open. Davis was only a blur behind floating orbs of color in her eyes. "She wants in."
"Uh… okay? What's the problem?"
She jammed her eyes closed, unable to answer, needing every ounce of concentration to keep control as every instinct in her head told her to let go. Davis pulled her in closer, offering whatever silent reassurance he could. It relaxed for just a moment, convincing her it would all be all right. That was all it took to let go. Everything fell at once.
"I am the master of-"
Davis squeezed tighter, interrupting her. "Rhythm…"
"Davis? Where'd you go?" He had pulled her in so close his head wasn't in her line of sight.
"I'm here," he said, trying to be soothing. Instead, his eyes were wide open as he experienced the sensation of contact with Rhythm's host. While she kept Kari's head lifted, the rest of her body had gone inert, heavy and lifeless in his arms.
He pushed himself away and looked into her eyes, still clutching her shoulders, lost for words. "What's wrong?" asked Rhythm.
"Are you sure she's okay with this?"
"She took longer to let go tonight. It was strange."
"Kari didn't want to?"
"I guess not. She's usually more cooperative. I wonder-"
"Hey, wait, you can't do that!" It was a gentle scolding, but it silenced her.
"She wasn't doing anything. I wanted to catch up. I… got the feeling it was important today."
Davis's lip quivered. "Yeah but… I love seeing you and all but… what did you do to Kari?"
"She's fine."
"She didn't look fine. It was really bothering her."
"It was bothering me that she wouldn't let me through." There was a bit of playfulness in her voice. "It's not like I was interrupting anything."
The horror in Davis's eyes was his only reply.
"Davis, I like you. I want to spend as much time with you as I can. I guess I… might get a little stubborn sometimes."
That cheerful tone captured everything he loved about her. Davis smiled, shook his head, and shed a tear. He leaned in, closing his eyes as he kissed her.
Rhythm didn't respond at first, only releasing a muffled hum after a couple seconds. Davis pulled away. The smile was gone. "What… what just happened?"
He had broken a cardinal rule. He needed to to understand why it existed. He hadn't kissed Kari. He hadn't kissed Rhythm. Her mind had two souls. In that moment, her lips had none. "You gotta let her go."
"But…" Her head drifted, hanging for a moment before Kari returned. Sad eyes met her for a moment before pulling her back into his arms.
A minute of silence passed. Her sighs became moans, which became sobbing. Davis held her the whole time.
"You… have to stop. I can't do this anymore," she whimpered.
He clutched her tighter. Denying Rhythm was easy enough to say, but added up to defying a god. One already in Kari's head. He stroked it, offering whatever peace he could. "So what do we do?" he mumbled.
Next Time on Nexusworld- Episode 18: "Virtual Is Where We Live"
Izzy sends the appdrivers into the Digital World's network to eradicate the source of Yaddith and Gizumon. Astra offers a solution to freeing Kari from Rhythm. Rika worries about a lack of support from Renamon.
"What part of an exorcism makes you think it's going to be pleasant?"
Author's Notes
This chapter's title track is a special one as it's performed by Melissa Fahn, voice of Rika and Nene (and Kristy, whom I still wish I could have justified being in this). Obviously the sentiment of the song is directed towards Matt, but it extends throughout the chapter, including perhaps Rika (who wasn't even going to be in it at the time I picked the song).
The first Sora scene originally went into greater length detailing Matt and Sora's relationship between Zero Two and tri. It was a little too long a sidebar to keep all of it, so it got shortened dramatically. I'll put the full segment up on Tumblr next week!
We've played with Sora and Yoshi having the same voice actress, but I think it's the first time they've really had a proper scene together (don't recall them speaking to Angie much either). If you really want to catch Colleen pulling dual roles in a romantic context, check out Sonic Boom where she plays both Tails and his girlfriend!
Wasn't expecting TK to bring up Agumon (RizeGreymon to be more precise) in chapter 13 of Neverworld to come up, but these things happen. Also unintentional was the callback to chapter 17, where Zoe also wandered into a closed room because a maintenance sign fell down.
Davis's fondness for Rhythm and willingness to overlook the issue of her form or lack of humanity is heavily inspired by the Natsu e no Tobira audio drama. He just has a knack for getting attached to beings that aren't quite human!
The card game both Matt/Sora and Davis/Kari were playing is called Sushi Go. I've only played it once or twice but it's that nice mix of casual and strategic that would appeal to non-serious gamers who still want something a step above Old Maid.