A/N: Random idea that came about... randomly. I honestly have no idea, i wasn't watching Digimon or Yugioh GX when this happened. I was watching the Shark vs. Kite duel in ZEXAL! But it does feel nice to write fanfic again after... march me thinks?

Written for the Diversity Writing CHallenge, b39 - write about people going their separate ways

Powderpuff in Passing

Piximon was a great friend and all, but that dark cave training wasn't something Tai wanted to go through again. So when he spotted a very similar-looking figure – except brown instead of pink and not carrying his little staff – Tai was very quick to not get left behind in case a rock got shoved between them and kept them trapped.

Never mind this was the human world and not the digital world, the streets were flooded with people and a large stone in the middle of the road probably wouldn't even stop them, and Agumon was back in the digital world… and who knew if he'd even remember him, after how they'd separated last.

And this was the first hint of another world since that incident.

And if Piximon was here, then maybe Agumon too…

Except the Piximon look-alike had stopped, now squawking and flying circles around another brunet's head, and the man was looking curiously at him.

And it wasn't quite like Piximon, now that Tai stopped and looked properly. Its fur stuck up in too many directions. Its wings weren't the same shape. It couldn't talk… or not in any language he understood, anyway. And he hadn't met a digimon that wasn't at the baby stage that couldn't talk, and this one was too well-defined to be at the baby stage.

'You're not a digimon, are you?' he asked, deflating. He would have even taken an impromptu training session with Piximon for a hint of the Digital World.

'He's a duel spirit,' the man replied, as the duel spirit cooed in reply. 'Winged Kuriboh.' Then he cocked his head a little. 'Not everyone can see him, and I don't think I've seen anyone run like that after him without looking for me for some reason or other.'

'Well…' Tai rubbed his head. 'No, Winged Kuriboh... was it? He just reminded me of a… someone I used to know.' Digimon weren't public knowledge after all, and he hadn't reacted to that first mention of them.

'Digimon?' the other repeated. 'You called them that before. Are they from another world?'

This time it was Tai's turn to look confused. 'That's not the first conclusion someone would jump to.'

'I've been to a few,' the other replied casually, as though he was saying he'd been to a few different prefectures in Japan instead. 'Besides, you don't look like you're plotting world domination.'

The Winged Kuriboh trilled some more.

'I mean,' the man shrugged, 'I could be wrong, but most of them have some sort of weird vibe, you know…'

'Yeah, guess so,' Tai replied, thinking about all the evil digimon they'd come across. Sure, they'd been fooled more than a few times, but it never took long for evil to show its face and they were pretty stark. 'Does that mean you know a way..?'

He couldn't, Tai realised. He didn't know digimon.

And the man shook his head. 'Maybe if I'd been there myself, but I haven't.' His brow furrowed. 'At least, I don't think I have.'

The Winged Kuriboh flew forward to nudge at Tai's cheek some, before returning to his partner.

'I might one day,' the man said. Maybe they were both trying to cheer him up in his own way. 'Anyone I should keep an eye out for?'

It was a nice thought. And both Tai and this man knew there were other worlds out there, and who knew how many ways into them.

And maybe the others still remembered them, even with the way they were cut off from the digital world now...

'An orange reptile, about this high,' Tai said, gesturing. 'His name's Agumon.'

'Agumon,' the man repeated. 'I'll remember that. And you are?'

'Tai Kamiya,' Tai replied, and hadn't this been an odd conversation from start to finish. But thinking he'd seen Piximon and bumping into something called a duel spirit was equally odd. 'And you?'

'Jaden Yuki,' was the reply, before shrieking from Winged Kuriboh interrupted him. 'Oh whoops, we're losing him, aren't we? Nice to meet you!'

The last bit was tossed over his shoulder as the pair vanished into the crowd, and Tai doubted either saw his delayed goodbye wave.

He hadn't even asked what a duel spirit was. Izzy would hopefully know, otherwise he wasn't going to be pleased with him at all.