Chapter 34: The Reliable Leader

After stroking Homare's head for some time and receiving no response, Hisoka pulled away and pushed Pen Pen closer to Homare's slumbering form. "Arisu is asleep."

Tsumugi let out a sigh of relief. It sure took a while this time for Homare to finally sleep. He understood why; experiencing this kind of thing would certainly devastate a poet.

He looked at the sheet of paper on the writing pad, skimming what he'd scribbled there. It seemed like Homare had always stopped whenever he wanted to mention a noun.

"I feel bad suggesting the idea of composing poems," Azuma muttered with a frown.

Tsumugi shook his head. "It's okay. You meant well after all. Besides, composing poems will help him."

"You're familiar with this, Tsumugi?" Hisoka asked.

"I studied about this back in univ, but only the basics. The fight seems to have damaged Homare's brain and impaired his word retrieval ability."

"Word retrieval ability?"

"The ability to think of the right word when one needs it. Homare knows what he wants to say, but can't really find the right word. He'll need therapy, but since we're in Digital World..." Tsumugi looked at Agumon. "Things could be simpler here I guess?"

"Well…" Agumon looked down, its eyelids drooping. "We don't really know."

Tsumugi, Azuma, and Hisoka gasped, but Tsumugi quickly regained his composure. Both Azuma and Hisoka still stared at Agumon with their jaws dropped.

"Our treatment boils down to fixing the defective data in the body and nothing else. This is why we're good at treating injuries, but helpless when it comes to the complication. Your friend will fully recover, but we don't really know what to do with his word retrieval problem. We only know to wait until his brain heals."

"But…" Tears trickled down Hisoka's cheeks. "Word retrieval ability is important for Arisu."

Tsumugi's heart clenched at Hisoka's soft sobs, but he quickly steeled himself. "I'm not an expert, but there are things we can do to help Homare," he said. "We need to keep encouraging him to talk and compose something. He may pause a lot when speaking and composing, but give him some time."

Hisoka's face lightened up a bit. "Got it."

Tsumugi shifted his gaze to the mattress that lay a few feet away from Homare's bed; it had a few pillows resting on top of it. "Also, we'll sleep in shifts tonight. We'll shoulder the burden together." Admittedly, Tsumugi wouldn't mind shouldering everything by himself.

Azuma chuckled. "I like how that sounds. Anyway, what do you think of word games? Can they help?"

Tsumugi nodded. "Yeah. We can get him some crossword puzzle books or play hangman with him when he's up."

"Crossword puzzle books, huh?" Azuma approached the wooden crate at the corner of their room and opened the lid. "I'll visit the shop and see what I can do." His smile, although gentle, brimmed with confidence.

He knew how to get those stuff cheap, undoubtedly.

"I'll leave this to you, Azuma," Tsumugi told him.

"Agumon." Hisoka called out, pointing at the almost empty flask hanging on the IV stand beside Homare's bed.

"Gotcha!" Agumon sprinted along the path between the mattress and the wall and through the blue curtain.

Soon, Azuma stood up with a plastic bag full of Digimushrooms in his hand. "I'm off."

Tsumugi nodded. "We'll be waiting."

Once Azuma walked out of the area, Tsumugi sat down on the mattress and looked at Hisoka. The little guy had plopped down on his chair, but his eye was still open.

Tsumugi couldn't possibly tell him to sleep now, could he? Hisoka had been reluctant to sleep even before they discovered Homare's difficulty in retrieving words. It felt kinda off to see Hisoka being so distraught at Homare's newfound impairment, though.

Hmm, could it be… Well, if his assumptions were true, he could convince Hisoka to rest up. Poor little guy looked so disheveled; he also smelled, but the pungent odor of disinfectant in the clinic concealed it most of the time.

"Hisoka," Tsumugi began, "does this happen to remind you of your loss?"

Hisoka looked at him with a widened eye. "Tsumugi?"

Oops, he went too far. "Sorry."

Hisoka smiled. "It's okay." He returned his focus to the sleeping Homare. "You're right. Arisu losing his ability to think of the right words is like me losing August. Poetry is an important part of Arisu's life, just like August to me."

"So that's how it is."

Hisoka nodded. "August is lost forever, but I know there's still hope for Arisu to regain his ability. Then Agumon said they didn't know how to help him." He looked down on his lap, his hands balling into fists. "I'm just scared that the impairment will kill Arisu's love for poetry before his brain recovers."

"I get it." Tsumugi put aside the paper and the writing pad. "Well, let's do our best to encourage him when he's up."

Hisoka smiled at Tsumugi. "Yeah."

"Also, if he recites something and bothers you, don't shoot him down like you usually do."

"I won't. Don't worry about it."

Rapid footsteps echoed from behind Tsumugi. He glanced over his shoulder; Agumon strode through the curtain and along the path between the mattress and the wall with a flask of transparent fluid.

"Ah, speaking of, why don't you take a shower and rest up, Hisoka?" Tsumugi suggested. "Judging from Homare's condition, we'll have a long night ahead of us. Better prepare for it."

"Preparing…" Hisoka nodded and stood up. "Okay. Please watch over Arisu."

"Sure."

Hisoka walked out of the area, leaving Tsumugi with Agumon. The little dinosaur Digimon had just finished replacing the flask of IV fluid for Homare.

"You guys are really close." Agumon tossed the empty flask into the nearby trash bin. "Are you all family or something?"

Tsumugi scratched his cheek with a finger. "We once talked about it, but found that 'family' didn't suit us. So we settled with 'people bound by destiny.'"

"People bound by destiny?"

"Well, how to put it…" Tsumugi cleared his throat. "In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, we shall share our laughter and our tears as those with an intertwined fate…" Wow, that went without a hitch! Good thing Homare often repeated the speech, although Tasuku and Hisoka would then take a jab at him.

"That sounds…" Agumon scratched its head. "Cool? I don't know, but that speech has a nice ring to it."

"Homare made it."

"Oh? I heard something interesting in there."

Tsumugi looked back. Azuma had returned, with a bulky paper bag in each of his hands.

"That speech fits us to a tee, doesn't it?" Azuma chuckled, putting the bags down on the mattress and sitting beside Tsumugi. "Anyway, I get ten books in total."

"Mister, how did you get so much stuff with just Digimushrooms?" Agumon asked. "They're the least valuable items here!"

"It's a secret." Azuma opened one of the bags. "Also, I met Airdramon on the way back." He fished two envelopes out of the bag and handed it to Tsumugi. "We have letters from Tasuku and Guy."

Tsumugi quirked an eyebrow. Two letters? They could've written their thoughts in one letter… Then Tsumugi saw the names of the sender and the receiver on one of the envelopes.

Tasuku writing a letter for Homare? Seriously? As much as Tsumugi wanted to take a peek at it because Tasuku was usually bad at writing letters, he put aside the envelope.

Azuma chuckled. "Tasuku is a cute person, isn't he?"

"Yeah. He won't like it if he hears us call him that, though." Tsumugi opened the envelope in his hand and read the letter.

"To Tsukioka, Mikage, Yukishiro, and Arisugawa,

The Beetle Tournament is tomorrow. Takato has bought the ticket for a VIP seat to get a better view of the battle."

Tsumugi laughed softly. "You never change, Tasuku." Obviously, his awkward friend meant something else.

"There are only four participants this month, including me. I am in a separate bracket from HerakleKabuterimon, but looking at our opponents, I have no doubt we will make it to the final round.

The Tree Tower here is a great tourist destination. Perhaps the closest comparison to it is 'a bustling town within a tree.' HerakleKabuterimon took us to Down Beat Bar, the Tree Tower's best bar, and bought us Beetle Land's signature veggie cocktail."

"I'd love to try that, but…" Azuma frowned. "Beetles…"

Tsumugi smiled at Azuma. "It's okay. We'll go there together and protect you."

"Thanks."

Tsumugi continued reading the letter.

"The Tree Tower also has a theater. Tonight Takato and I will be watching The Beetle Tournament's Other Secret, a play based on the infamous GranKuwagamon incident at Beetle Land. Takato is very curious about how insect Digimon act on stage, and so am I. The facial features of insect Digimon hinder them from expressing emotion through their faces."

Theater and acting. The letter had just mentioned Tsumugi's favorite words. He could possibly evolve into Garmmon and fly to Beetle Land by himself, but that'd be very selfish and irresponsible of him.

"I see a sparkle in your eye, Tsumugi," Azuma commented. "It isn't as bright as what I expect from a theater nerd like you, though."

"I can't deny it," Tsumugi replied. "Anything related to acting excites me, but..." He looked at the slumbering Homare. "I can't leave anyone behind. Especially not while Homare is badly injured and needs so much emotional support."

"As expected from our reliable leader." Azuma placed a hand on Tsumugi's shoulder. "Continue leading us, all right?"

To hear these words from his troupe member… Tsumugi had never felt so much happiness since they came to Digital World. Tasuku was right; even if he were weak, the Winter Troupe still needed his leadership skills.

"Sure." Tsumugi returned his focus to the letter.

"We are thinking of bringing everyone else here someday. Perhaps when everything is over, we can visit the theater and watch a play together before leaving Digital World.

By the way, Takato has been talking a lot with HerakleKabuterimon and is trying to convince it to visit Arisugawa. This Ultimate-level Digimon is not only a powerful warrior, but also a poet. It writes poems based on the battles it watches and fights in.

Regards,

Guy"

"Oh, Tasuku…" Tsumugi commented with a smile.

"That sure will help Homare with his word retrieval problems," Azuma said from beside him.

"Right." Tsumugi folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. "We should reread it with Hisoka and Homare later. For now, I'll reply to the letter and ask if they can get HerakleKabuterimon to compose something for Homare."

"Will you tell them about Homare's condition?"

Tsumugi shook his head. "Not now. They already have the Beetle Tournament to worry about."