Kindred Pairs

by milesprower06

'Come on, Matsuki. Finish strong, finish strong.'

Keeping his breathing as steady as possible, Takato had the finish line in sight. He took hold of the stopwatch hanging around his neck in his left hand, thumb ready to slam down on the Start/Stop button.

The boy kept his pace steady, refusing to slow until he was across that solid line for the fourth time. He kept a firm hold on the stopwatch, taking care to not accidentally strangle himself like he had in the early days. His right foot came down on the line, and he brought his thumb down on the stopwatch's left button in nearly the same instant. He began coasting down to a jog, then a walk, making his way over to the metal bleachers where his bottle of water sat on the first row of seats. Bending down to grab it, he looked down at his final time.

09:26:56

"Not bad, definitely getting there." He told himself as he released the timekeeper from his grasp, letting it hang from his neck again as he pulled the nozzle of his bottle open, bringing it to his lips and turning it skyward, taking two gulps before setting it back down on the metal bench. Knowing he'd forget if he didn't do it immediately, he put one foot up on the first row of bleachers and began post workout stretches, wiping the sweat from his forehead, as the light breeze was the only reprieve from a mildly hot summer afternoon.

Takato remembered his last mile time in school was just a little over ten minutes. He never was the most athletic person; even Kazu, as he often bragged, bested him in most track and field events. But as the school year was starting to wrap up, Rika had brought up the topic of their athleticism.

"It's not like I'm saying that we've let ourselves go, Gogglehead, but I'm just saying it might be a good idea to get in better shape for when they come back, you know?" She had told him.

Takato had immediately agreed. Mentally recalling his best mile time of 10:05 from gym class, he made a goal to cut it down by at least a minute. He still had a ways to go on his endurance, but shaving 40 seconds off in just a couple months was no small feat. When he had first started, it became all too apparent how sprinting to bio-emergence locations were just short bursts of adrenaline, instead of any indication of how physically fit he was.

Switching legs on the bench, he took note of his new white running shoes. With all the action his green high tops had been through, the time had come to retire them, especially if he was going to be focusing on training. But new shoes had only been part of the equation, as the very first shift at the bakery in them had resulted in a couple blisters, and he went right back out for some thicker socks as well. Luckily, that and a couple evenings of applying lotion had solved the problem, and he was out on the school track the very next week.

Today he had the track to himself. Tomorrow was Saturday, and there were generally a few more runners here on the weekends, and those were the times where track etiquette would be a factor as he shared the track with others; you generally the slower your pace, the more towards the outer lanes you would gravitate towards. The track wasn't the only piece of school property used by the public over the summer; there were days where impromptu soccer games happened in the next field over. Some days Jeri made her way over to offer support and cheer him on. But lately, she had less free time on her hands, for the best of reasons. She had come out of the D-Reaper crisis with a vigor to renew her relationships with her father and stepmother, so Takato had seen a lot less of her this summer than he had gotten used to.

Another time Rika had come by to see how he kept up with some competition. She had beaten him by a comfortable twenty seconds, which only motivated him to push harder. The last time she spoke about it, her choice of getting a workout had been martial arts. Henry had introduced her to his sensei, and had gotten her started with some basic Tai-chi lessons.

Turning away from the bleachers to perform another stretch, his gaze passed over the Metropolitan Government Building, where Hypnos was located, and he felt a twinge of guilt in his stomach. He continued stretching, attempting to let the recent memory pass. It was all too fresh, what they had decided to do with the regenerated portal underneath Guilmon's hut in Shinjuku Park. When he found it, he had immediately gone to Henry, overjoyed at the sight, wondering how long it would be before their partners came back to them. Word had traveled from there; from Henry to his dad Janyuu, to Hypnos Director Mitsuo Yamaki. Takato had thought they would set up a monitoring station of some kind, waiting for it to become big enough. But when he returned to the park the next day, his stomach dropped when he saw that Guilmon's tunnel had been filled in; the floor and wall repaired with fresh layers of concrete.

Takato's partnership and connection with Guilmon had taught him a lot about emotions. Channeling his animalistic rage had been key to helping WarGrowlmon overcome Vikaralamon. Several weeks later in the digital world, he had gone even deeper into a berserk, uncontrolled fury when he witnessed Leomon's murder. All of that had fed into WarGrowlmon and resulted in the dark dragon Megidramon, whose very existence threatened the stability of the digital plane. Since that day, he vowed to keep such inner negativity in check.

As careful as he had been about controlling his anger since Megidramon, he also hadn't encountered much that could make him that angry that quickly since the final confrontation with the D-Reaper... At least until he saw the fresh concrete in Guilmon's hut. The subsequent phone call with Yamaki was, suffice to say, less than pleasant. He had never recalled speaking to an adult like that before.

"Have you changed at all over the past year?! Or now that the world isn't under imminent threat, we've gone back to just being kids playing some dangerous game, is that it? Our partners are meant to be with us, and you're doing everything in your power to keep us apart, you government spook!"

Takato had barely heard Yamaki's and Janyuu's reasoning, and had run home to sulk. After punching his pillow a few times and having a good cry, he had begun to process Yamaki's response. Anything could have come through that portal if it had been allowed to grow, and like it or not, if it was anything but their partners, it likely would have been bad news for everyone if it was a Wild One with a chip on their shoulder. Yamaki admitted that Hypnos' track record at dealing with bio-emergences was less than stellar, and that they had largely been forced to rely on the Tamers for marginally effective security. But with the Tamers partnerless, and thus weaponless, for the time being, every single precaution had to be taken.

Yamaki's second reason was equally sound; it wasn't just about keeping uncertain danger from coming out, it was also about keeping others from going in. It made Takato think back to the TV show he had adored before all this; if they were whisked away unwillingly and unprepared, he wondered if they would have survived. With their initial rations scattered out around the outermost layers, they were quite fortunate that you only stayed hungry if you thought about it. If their digital world worked like the show's did, where they needed food and water as regularly as in the real world, he had to admit that their chances probably would have been considerably more slim than they already had been. He couldn't understand how the Digidestined would be able to walk as much as they did in the desert without copious amounts of water.

After dinner and a night's rest, he begrudgingly admitted to himself that Yamaki was right, and called back the next day to apologize for what he had said to him.

For his part, Yamaki told Takato that he understood his eagerness and sympathized with his frustration. As an olive branch of sorts, he offered to attempt to deliver a packet of messages to their partners in the digital world. Yamaki had assured him that they could format the messages to go specifically to their partners and no one else. Unfortunately, there would be no confirmation of delivery, nor any way for their partners to reply. Nevertheless, the Tamers had taken Yamaki up on his offer, recording messages for him to send, hoping that their Digimon knew that they were thought of every single day. Takato had been one of the first to get his sent to Hypnos, and one by one, they all had. Even Jeri, who sent well wishes to Calumon and Impmon.

It drove Takato nuts that they ultimately wouldn't know whether they had gotten through or not, but he told himself that it was absolutely better than nothing. Even if he couldn't receive a reply, he wanted Guilmon to know that he had not forgotten his promise.

With his stretches complete and one last swig of water, Takato turned to the side gate of the school where he had come in, and left the grounds, wiping the sweat from his forehead again as the sun continued on its afternoon course overhead.

Before he set his mind on whatever was being prepared for dinner tonight, there was one more stop to make on his way home. Making his way down the street, he turned left down an alley towards the Hanazono Shrine. He remembered bringing Growlmon here once they had caught their breath from trying to work off all the champion level data after the fight with Devidramon. The shrine was open year round, and Takato had become one of the most familiar faces here over the past few months, as he had stopped here on his way home from school, and even took an hour on weekends to come here, every single day since Guilmon had departed with the others.

If there was one thing being a Tamer had taught him, it was the undeniable power of wishing, hope, and faith.

Well-versed in this routine by now, he stepped up to the shrine, set his water bottle down on the ground next to him, took a deep breath, and grabbed hold of the rope with his right hand, ringing the bell three times. Taking another breath, he reached into the right pocket of his sweatpants, and came out with his gold-ringed D-Arc. The digivice had been silent for nearly six months straight now, but there was nothing else he had that exemplified his bond with Guilmon more. As Shibumi said, it brought kindred pairs together. Gently clasping it in both hands as he raised them to his chest, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"I wish to see Guilmon again very, very soon, so I can keep my promise."

A/N:

So, my first Tamers story in over a decade. I'm hoping to make this one my most IC story yet, with all the experience I've gotten working on my MLPFIM content.

Hope you enjoy, and there's more to come. Thanks for reading!

-milesprower06