Author's Note: Tamers will be AU with the addition of Daisuke in the mix, don't like don't read, simple as that.
This is word emphasis
*This is one half of a phone conversation*
Prologue
Burgundy haired, coffee eyed Motomiya Daisuke, Inheritor of Courage and Friendship, Chosen Child of Miracles doesn't even stop to think as he dives in front of his fresh level partner. When he'd read the message about a meeting in Digiworld he never even began to suspect that Inoue Miyako the Inheritor of Love and Sincerity, Kamiya Hikari the Child of Light, and Takaishi Takeru the Child of Hope were luring him and his partner into a well laid trap. Veemon had barely had time to digivolve into ExVeemon before Aquilamon, Angemon, and Nefertimon set upon him. That brought him to now, diving in front of Chibomon, scooping his partner up, cradling him to his chest, and then pain crashes over him. Just before he blacks out he could swear he saw golden light blazing up.
Chapter 1
Nonaka Daisuke bolts awake, sweat matting his burgundy locks to his forehead, and drops his head into his hands. The nightmares were getting worse. Looking at the time the coffee eyed boy decides to get up, and get ready for the day. He preferred to wear a blue t-shirt under a short sleeved orange hoodie with a blue lined hood, and his blue socks can just barely be seen peeking out of his orange converses. Once he double checks he has everything, including loading a sleeping Demiveemon into the hood of his hoodie, he leaves a note for adoptive grandmother and sister before heading to his best friend's home. His sister may attend an all girls private school, but his mom had agreed to allow him to attend a public school. He was just grateful his grandma had him tested for learning disabilities. Having an actual diagnosis for ADHD helped him out academically by a large margin.
As he makes his way to his best friend Matsuki Takato's home Daisuke pulls out an orange and blue digivice that had a strap with a hook on it. The coffee eyed pre-teen was torn on how he felt about being granted a new digivice. He had never heard of anyone having two digivices. He'd heard of digivices upgrading, he may not have been present to see that happen, but had heard about it. He places his orange and blue digivice back into his right pants pocket, and makes the final turn for the Matsuki Bakery. He heads to the side entrance and uses his key to get in. He slips his shoes off at the bottom of the stairs, and leaves his school bag along with his duffle bag with them. In sock clad feet he makes his way up the stairs and to Takato's room, silently slipping inside. Takato made sure to keep the hinges to his bedroom door oiled up.
Daisuke looks at the time, taking a moment to observe Takato while he was sleeping, and regretfully shakes his friend awake. Crimson eyes slit open and deliver a baleful look. Had Daisuke been anyone else he would have quailed under that look, instead he just smiles at his best friend, though the coffee eyed boy could admit to himself that he was attracted to his best friend, might even be falling for said best friend. Most wouldn't think Matsuki Takato was capable of such a look, but Takato was not a morning person. " Sorry, Taka. "
Takato sighs wearily, running a hand through his light brown locks, even as he sits up in his bed, " Nightmares? " Takato asks, motioning for Daisuke to sit beside him, but the burgundy haired pre-teen remains standing. As shaky as he still was Daisuke knew he couldn't give into the temptation to just snuggle into Takato.
" Yeah, left a note back home. You willing to make breakfast for us, Taka? "
" Let me get showered and dressed. Chocolate chip muffins work, Dai? " Takato asks, gathering up what he needed. He also packed up his school bag while he was at it.
" Got soccer practice after school today. The muffins work, but I'll need something different for my bento. " Daisuke answers after thinking about it.
" I'll make sure you have some good snacks for after practice as well, Dai. " Takato says.
By the time Takato's parents were awake Takato had the muffins finished, and was just finishing up the bentos for himself and Daisuke. He ate on the move while Daisuke sat at the kitchen table in the Matsuki apartment above their bakery watching Takato while he eats his breakfast. It was only once Takato had the snacks for Daisuke done that he allowed himself to sit, and pours himself a glass of milk. He also tops off Daisuke's glass as well, " I didn't think you'd picked up this much on the baking side of things, Takato. " Matsuki Yoshie, Takato's mother says.
Daisuke smirks, " He prefers the decorating side of the business, but he does pay attention to all the lessons he's been given. "
Matsuki Takehito picks up one of Takato's muffins and takes a bite, " This is really good, son. "
Takato tries to sink through the floor, he did not do well with praise. Daisuke sighs at this, and places a hand on Takato's left shoulder, " Dude, you really need to learn how to accept positive reinforcement. "
" I'm not one for standing out, you know that, Daisuke. " Takato retorts as they finish their breakfast, and take the dishes over to the sink to rinse them, " Oh, since I made breakfast someone else gets to do the clean up. Mom, Dad, work that out amongst the two of you. "
Yoshie and Takehito watch as the boys grab their bentos, and Daisuke the snacks Takato had made him for after soccer practice, before heading down the stairs, though Daisuke had grabbed Takato's school bag for him. Husband and wife then turn to each other, getting into a stare off before engaging in a brutal Jan-Ken-Pon contest to see whom would clean up the breakfast dishes.
Down the stairs Takato and Daisuke put their shoes on before heading out the door, and towards the park where Shioda Kazu and Kitigawa Kenta would meet up with them to play the Digimon Card Game. Oh, Daisuke could play it all right, he just only did so for fun. It might annoy his sister Rika, but she respected his decision, he just preferred soccer. Though he did help Takato get better at the game. Other than Akiyama Ryo, acknowledged Digimon King, he was the only one whom could beat Nonaka Rika, the Digimon Queen. He just watches Takato and Kazu play since Kenta had apparently been running late. He stops the box with Takato's cards from falling to the ground, and then blinks when he sees a blue card with a metallic like sheen to it. He hands it to Takato, and the brown haired pre-teen scans it with his card reader. Both watch as the reader seems to go haywire for a minute. Then Daisuke pulls Takato out of there, before pulling him along to school.
Thanks to Daisuke Takato managed to make it to school before the bell, and they were in the same class as well. Daisuke was not surprised that when lunch rolled around Takato was back to creating a digimon. " What would you name this digimon, Takato? " Daisuke asks him as he eats his bento. They were in the cafeteria, and Daisuke made sure Takato ate his lunch as well.
" Guilmon, you can look at his stats later. He's the rookie level, but would be capable of handling Champion level, and low leveled Ultimates. " Takato answers as he looks up from his memo book, and eats some more of his lunch.
" What's his in training stage? " Daisuke asks.
Takato blinks before banging his head on the table, causing Daisuke to roll his eyes at his best friend, " You jumped straight to Rookie, didn't you? "
Takato slyly flips him off before flipping to a clean page in his memo book, and quickly sketching out what was taking a form similar to that of Tokomon. Only this digimon has fangs, and a tail. Daisuke shoves food within range of Takato, knowing how his friend got in a creative frenzy. Once the sketch was done Takato was quick to work out the stats for the digimon he names Gigimon. Then on the next clean page after the stats he starts sketching out the fresh form which was ball shaped with ears shaped like bat wings sticking out of its head. Takato was automatically eating the food in his bento since Daisuke had shoved it close enough to eat, but far enough away to not interrupt the creative juices pumping through the light brown haired pre-teen.
Takato managed to finish sketching out the Champion level for Guilmon, as he was calling the rookie level, and his lunch before lunch ended. Takato resumed his sketching as he sat in the bleachers watching Daisuke at practice. The team was used to Takato's presence at their practices even if he didn't play. By the time soccer practice ended Takato had the Champion and Ultimate forms sketched out, named, and the stats finished as well. He'd even managed to color in all of his sketches properly too. " Did you manage to finish the entire digivolution line, Takato? " Daisuke asks as he approaches, eating his snacks on the move.
" I'm stuck on Mega, but I have Fresh, In-Training, Champion, and Ultimate done. It goes Jyarimon, Gigimon, Guilmon, Growlmon, and finally WarGrowlmon. " Takato says, and hands the memo book to Daisuke after he finishes his snacks, and cleans his hands off.
Takato looks at his best friend anxiously as he looks of the entire digivolution line for the digimon he'd created while they walk to the park. Both were curious as to why his card reader had went nuts like that. Takato is surprised by the appreciative whistle Daisuke lets off once he finishes, " You based Guilmon and his line off of Tai's Agumon, right? " Daisuke had watched all of the first season of the show, but after the first episode of season two he realized what it was about, and only watched the episodes where he got the Digiegg/DigiMental of Friendship, and Golden Digiegg/DigiMental of Miracles. He had lived through the first half of season two after all. It hadn't been long after finding out about Arukenimon that...Daisuke shuts the train of thought down. Coffee colored eyes take in the weather around them suspiciously.
" I did, you really…"
Daisuke forces Takato to meet his gaze, coffee to crimson, " Takato, this line you've created is one helluva power house. Guilmon alone is badass power wise, and I can understand why the mental aspect is lower, to compensate for the power he contains. WarGrowlmon, I'm not gonna lie, would most like be able to take Kimeramon down easily, Magnamon wouldn't have been able to without Wormmon's help. "
" I thought you didn't watch Season Two? " Takato asks him.
" I'll watch Enter Flamedramon, Storm of Friendship, The Darkness Before the Dawn, and the Crest of Kindness. The other episodes not a chance in Hell. " is the burgundy haired male's reply.
Takato blinks as he follows Daisuke into the park to get his Digimon Cards, why would his best friend just watch those four episodes of Season Two? As he ponders on this he grabs the box with his cards and card reader before making his way back home at a fast walk, Daisuke right beside him. Takato mentions nothing about how the box had been glowing, or how he suspected he now had a digivice while Daisuke says nothing about how the clock on the dinosaur play structure sparked, and then moved ahead several hours. He could just barely remember what went down during Highton View Terrace, and had heard the digivolving of the Koromon sent to Tai and Kari had caused electrical disturbances. Takato barely takes note of his friend was also on his cell phone talking to his grandmother, he hangs up just as they reach the bakery, and enter the alley entrance, leaving their shoes at the foot of the stairs, and out of the way, " Daisuke, here for dinner? " Takehito asks.
" Yeah, and grandma gave me permission to spend the night as well, as long as you guys are okay with it. " Daisuke responds.
Takato hadn't realized he was that deep in his thoughts to not even hear some part of the conversation Daisuke had with his grandma. " I'll check with Yoshie, but I don't have a problem with you spending the night. We'll call you boys when dinner is ready. We'll call your grandma to let her know one way or the other. "
" Thanks, Mr. Matsuki, try not to have dinner done before I can shower and change, I did have soccer practice today. "
" Sure thing, Daisuke. " Takehito says as the boys make their way up the stairs.
Takato looks at the shoe box that contained his Digimon Cards, and his card reader turned probable Digivice. He's torn between opening the box up again now, or waiting until Daisuke was done with his shower. In the end he works on his homework waiting for Daisuke, though some instinct has him line the pages of the digivolution line he'd come up with in order from Fresh to Ultimate, he had them all colored, and all of the stats worked out, including attacks. Daisuke walks into Takato's room wearing a blue tank top and orange shorts, with clean socks on as well, still toweling his spiky burgundy locks dry, and he shuts the door behind himself, knowing Demiveemon had hidden himself in the room. " Taka, what happened to your card reader? "
Takato sighs and opens up the box, not removing any of the contents just yet. Had Takato not been watching Daisuke he would not have seen the normally tanned boy pale rapidly as his coffee eyes take in the sight of Takato's new Digivice. Takato didn't even realize he had moved before he was guiding Daisuke down to sit on the floor. Once he has Daisuke safely seated, the coffee eyed pre-teen's head on his left shoulder do all the pieces of the puzzle that is Nonaka Daisuke slot into perfect alignment for Takato. A lot of little things that hadn't made much sense at the time, like Daisuke only watching four episodes of Digimon Adventure 02, the glares Daisuke would give the cards for the Digieggs/DigiMentals of Light, Love, Sincerity, and Hope in the card game along with Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Aquilamon, and Angemon. Daisuke did not own any of the cards, and any he got in booster packs he immediately traded away for something he wanted.
" Dai, I know. " Takato murmurs in his fellow pre-teen's ear.
Daisuke shudders, and Demiveemon crawls into his lap, doing what he could to comfort his partner, " You only know who I really am, Taka, not how I got here. "
" TK, Kari, Miyako/Yolei, and their partners are involved though, right? " Takato asks, and addresses the surprised look in Daisuke's eyes, " I've noticed how you would glare at the Digieggs/DigiMentals of Light, Hope, Love, and Sincerity while also glaring at Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Aquilamon, and Angemon. You own none of those cards, and whenever you get them out of booster packs you trade them immediately. Then only watching the episodes in which Tai's successor gets his Digieggs/DigiMentals...it was only your reaction to seeing my Digivice that aligned all the pieces I already had into a complete picture. "
" I got a message on my D-Terminal about a meeting in Digiworld. I never even suspected it to be a trap. Veemon barely had time to digivolve into ExVeemon before they attacked. They soon had him down to his Fresh Form, Chibomon. They were about ready to delete him when I dove in front of Chibomon, scooped him up, cradled him to my chest, and then the pain came. As everything was going dark I saw golden light flash into existence. " Daisuke explains, " It would have been right after the episode Spirit Needle. "
Takato runs his fingers through Daisuke's hair, disbelief and anger warring within him at the mere fact that Daisuke and DemiVeemon were betrayed by six members of their team, including the digimon. Disbelief at the fact that Kamiya Hikari would be a party to trying to kill a childhood friend in cold blood, and anger over the fact that his best friend, his Daisuke, had suffered through such a horrendous betrayal. Then he blinks, his fingers never stop their ministrations as he can feel Daisuke relaxing by degrees, as he realizes that he had claimed ownership over Daisuke in his thoughts. When the Hell had his feelings shifted from platonic to romantic towards Daisuke anyhow?
" This is what your nightmares are about. " Takato states.
Daisuke just nods, not really up to talking at the moment. Thinking about the betrayal still hurt way too damned much. " DemiVeemon, could you bring me my digivice, and everything of the digivolution line I created? I put the sheets in order from Fresh to Ultimate. Don't worry, I've got Dai. " Takato says.
" Shure, I can do that for ya, Takato. " DemiVeemon says, and brings over the requested items to the brown haired pre-teen.
Takato grabs the first page with Jyarimon, and scans it. His Digivice took it from there, the screen glowing red, scanning all the subsequent pages while humans and digimon watched. When it was done a digiegg could be seen on the screen. " Taka, did you just create your own partner? " Daisuke asks him incredulously.
" I think so. " Takato says, picking his digivice up, the egg happened to be white with red spots. Daisuke pulls away from Takato just as they're called for dinner.
DemiVeemon goes straight for his partner's school bag for his own meal. Daisuke always had food for his partner with him. Yoshie looks at Daisuke, " I've already called your grandma to confirm you're spending the night, Daisuke. You do have everything you need here, right? "
Takato rolls his eyes at his mother's question, " I swear he actually keeps half his stuff in my room. "
Daisuke opens his mouth to refute this, and then pauses to think about it, " Huh, I think you might actually be right about that. Never really thought about it before. Most of the clothes I keep here are the ones I actually prefer. Mom has an acquired fashion sense. " Not even Rika could blame him for clearing out whenever their mother was actually home. She knew he didn't want to get caught in the middle of their spats, and respected him for the fact he didn't want to be forced to take sides. He always stayed with Takato when Nonaka Rumiko came home to see her children. Hell, his grandmother gave him a heads up so he could avoid the family drama. Even Rumiko couldn't blame her adoptive son for clearing out. If she wanted to spend time with him then she would call his cell phone, and meet him at a neutral place without Rika.
Takato blinks, " Wait, is your mom the reason why you ended up wearing that sweater vest outfit? "
Daisuke shudders, " She is, there is a reason why I stay with you whenever Mom comes home to visit. She and sis clash all the time. Rika is not a girly girl by any stretch of the definition, and I do not want to get placed in the middle. "
All three Matsukis share a look, " That's fair enough. How do you spend time with your mother then, Daisuke? " Yoshie asks him as he nudges Takato for some more udon.
Takato passes him the pot even as Daisuke answers, " She calls me on my cell phone, and we meet at a neutral place without my sister nearby. Mom, sis, and grandma all understand that I don't want to be caught in the middle, or forced to pick sides. Hence why grandma always gives me a heads up, and why I actually have half of my things here in Takato's room. Grandma gets the role of mediator. Besides, with all three of them around I would be drowning in estrogen instead of just surrounded by it all the time. "
Takehito winces, " You're the only male in the house, aren't you? "
Even Yoshie winces, no wonder Daisuke spent as much time as he could with Takato. Daisuke blinks when his phone rings, and he checks the ID. He groans when he sees it's Rika calling him, " Excuse me, if my sister has to leave a voice message she'll make me long for death. I'd rather not piss her off. "
Daisuke pushes away from the table even as he answers the phone, *Where the Hell are you anyhow?*
" Oh, gee, that's nice, Rika, not even a Hello? I'm spending the night at Takato's, which you would know if you checked with grandma. " Daisuke points out.
He could sense her wince, *Sorry, bro. Just got worried when I didn't see your shoes when I got home. That storm out there is nasty.*
" You called me in the middle of dinner, sis. Was there anything else you wanted? "
*Just to rant about Ryo again. Some moron made the mistake of mentioning him around me.*
Daisuke rolls his eyes at this, " Sis, you need an actual friend that is a girl. "
He hears her snort at this, *Maybe when I can actually find a girl that isn't a prissy little princess, or a vain, vapid, shallow bitch. Worse yet, the fangirls.*
" Love ya, sis. If need be, just scream your frustrations out at a pillow, or use those toys I know you have. " Daisuke hangs up to her spluttering at what he said.
He returns to the table with a smirk on his face, and Takato groans at this, " What the Hell did you do this time? "
Wicked mischief can be seen in Daisuke's eyes, " Oh, just flustered my sister with knowledge that I have that she didn't know I have. "
You had to be looking closely to see Takato's crimson eyes darken at the look in Daisuke's eyes, and the tone in his voice. Takato was honestly surprised by the fact that Daisuke pranking someone for shits and giggles happened to be a turn on for him. " Do I want to know? " Takato asks him as he reaches for some more homemade lemonade.
" Do the words plausible deniability tell you anything, Takato? " Daisuke asks him.
" More than enough, just don't get me intentionally caught up in your sister's revenge, okay. "
A dessert of jam tarts was served just then, and Takehito had made sure some were made with dragon fruit jam just for Daisuke while Takato snagged the cherry ones for himself. Yoshie damn near stabbed her husband in the hand with a fork for going near the mango flavored tarts. Takato and Daisuke move a little further away from Yoshie at this action. Daisuke had a sister, he recognized the signs of The Week of Hell damned quickly. The pre-teens pack their tarts up in a bag each, though Daisuke does sneak some raspberry ones for DemiVeemon before excusing themselves. Takehito glares after them, schooling his features before his hormonal wife noticed.
Daisuke hands DemiVeemon the raspberry tarts, and sends his partner a glare, " Daishuke, I am not shtupid enough to shteal your dragon fruit tartsh. " DemiVeemon deadpans as the pre-teens work on their homework before checking each other's work over.
DemiVeemon curls up on Daisuke's school bag when he's tired, and the males look out Takato's bedroom window at the storm. " Trouble's coming, Taka. I could feel it before you found your digivice. " The burgundy haired male pulls out his new orange and blue digivice, handing it to Takato, " That appeared before me six months ago in a flash of white light. "
" Oh, Dai. " Takato murmurs.
" I just don't know if I can work with a team again, Taka. Just the thought of placing my trust in someone other than my partner, or now you...it terrifies me. I really don't know if I can find the Courage to do so again. To leave myself that vulnerable. "
Daisuke's coffee eyes widen at the emotion in Takato's eyes when the light brown haired pre-teen pulls him to himself, " I will never knowingly or willingly betray you, Dai. Anyone that tries it with me around will regret it! "
The ferocity in Takato's voice actually causes Daisuke to pleasantly shudder, he had never once thought that Takato might actually reciprocate his feelings. Only Tai had ever known his so-called crush on Kari was a cover. Exposure to Daisuke had affected Takato in a way that no one had actually noticed. While soft spoken, and preferring to stay in the background Takato had found his 'Inner Bastard' if you will, or more accurately his Dark Side. Takato happened to be a pretty forgiving kind of guy with a big heart. He was also so unassuming that you would never see his rage coming until it had already hit you with the force 10.0 on the Richter Scale. This is taking into account that the highest measured earthquake ever recorded was an 8.6 in Chile in 1960.
" For you, I'll help. Only you will know who I am though. " Daisuke says, laying his head on Takato's left shoulder, letting his eyes slip shut as he revels in the absolute safety he feels in Takato's arms.
Takato hands Daisuke's new digivice back to him, " Go lay down, Dai, I just need to get ready for bed, and I'll be right back. "
Daisuke sighs as he walks over to Takato's bed and settles in on it, already missing the feeling of being in Takato's arms. He was already working out how to hide his identity while helping Takato out. His hair would have to be hidden, along with his eyes. Colored contacts would handle his eyes, and a properly secured wig his hair. He had enough cash on hand that he could buy those things easily enough. Takato returns in his light green pajamas just then, and notices the pensive look on Daisuke's face. He knew what Daisuke was thinking about, how to hide his identity and still help him. The brown haired pre-teen grabs his white and red digivice before slipping into his bed beside Daisuke, and shutting off the bedside lamp.
He's not surprised when Daisuke snuggles into his left side, knowing the other male was rather tactile with his affection. " Rest for now, Dai, we'll figure it out together, okay. " Takato runs his fingers through Daisuke's soft and spiky burgundy locks.
" 'Kay, Taka. Night. " Daisuke murmurs as his breathing evens out. Takato's left arm wraps around Daisuke's back when he falls asleep, pulling the other male closer, while Daisuke's left arm was across Takato's body with his left hand curled around Takato's right shoulder. In Takato's right hand is his digivice, sending his energy to his developing partner. It was through the help of Takato's developing partner that he was able to observe the fight between a partnered Renamon, and Lynxmon while learning what the slot on the side of his digivice was for. What Takato wasn't expecting was for Daisuke to be watching with him, which he only noticed when Daisuke spoke up in the strange dream they seemed to be sharing, " Rika?! " Daisuke's tone was incredulous.
Both of them snapped awake after watching Renamon load the data of her downed foe. Daisuke's coffee eyes were wide with shock, " That's your sister, huh? " Takato asks.
" Yeah, that's Rika, the Digimon Queen. " Daisuke admits with a sigh as he sits up, mostly so he can run his hands through his hair, " She reminds me of Ken before I got through to him, Takato. He thought digimon were just data and pixels, not living, breathing beings with thoughts, feelings, and hopes of their own. It took Wormmon sacrificing himself to get that message through to Ken. I just thank Miracles that DemiVeemon is so very good at acting as a plushie, and that my own scent covers his. "
" Well, we need to get ready for the day, Dai. " Takato says as he heads for his closet.
Daisuke follows him, and looks through his half of Takato's closet, slipping on a sleeveless blue hooded shirt, some black cargo shorts, and moving to the dresser grabs a pair of orange socks that he subsequently puts on as well. He also slips some black wrist bands on that had his Crest of Miracles embroidered on them in a continuous ring around them. Takato had on a white t-shirt, brown cargo shorts, and white socks while having his blue hoodie in hand as well. Once he slips that on they grab their school bags, DemiVeemon waking up just enough to slip into his partner's hood, Daisuke didn't have practice after school that day, and head off to get breakfast. Takato's mom already had their bentos made, and breakfast was on the table, which included scrambled eggs, toast, two glasses of milk, and two small bowls of fruit salad.
Seeing no one around for the moment Daisuke fills a small bowl with eggs, and hands it along with a spoon to his partner. DemiVeemon eats quickly but neatly. Both boys were confused as to how they had actually gotten wet from the rain in that shared dream or whatever it was when they watched Rika and her partner deal with that Lynxmon and then load the data. Once they've eaten and all the dishes have been rinsed they head out the door to school, saying goodbye to Takato's parents. The pair take in the sight of the skyline, and Daisuke's eyes narrow at a building with two towers. That building had always given him bad vibes for some reason. In his peripheral vision he can see Takato looking at the same building uneasily.
He pulls Takato along to school, mostly to ensure they both got there before the bell, and find Katou Jeri already in their homeroom. They had changed into their indoor shoes upon reaching the building, and Takato has his digivice clipped to a belt loop for the moment, as he had no better ideas on how to keep track of it. " Morning, Jeri. " they both intone. They get a greeting back from Jeri and her puppet. Daisuke places his stuff at his desk before he leans against Takato's while they wait for school to officially begin.
The pair get into a discussion about the Digimon Card Game while their fellow students start to trickle in by twos and threes. When Daisuke sees it's one minute until the bell he heads for his own desk. Kazu and Kenta both skid into the classroom with six seconds to spare, both of them panting heavily as Asagi-sensei allows them to catch their breath since they did beat the bell before starting class. When she notices Daisuke and Kazu starting to nod their heads like they were fighting sleep twenty minutes into her first lesson of the day she sighs internally. Daisuke and Kazu both had legitimate ADHD diagnoses. " Takato, could you please come up and illustrate my lesson? " Asagi-sensei asks, handing Takato a box of colored chalk.
The crimson eyed male was quick to sketch out the history lesson she had given up to that point in full color. She notes that Daisuke and Kazu were paying full attention now, and the rest of her class was also paying better attention too.
Eastern Quadrant, Daisuke's Home Dimension:
Hida Iori had gone into the Digital World after his kendo lesson that day with the idea of helping rebuild some more. What he found when he arrived was a still smoking crater from the day before, and the goggles Daisuke had gotten from Tai. That alone concerned him and Armadillomon. What moved that concern into horror was when Armadillomon found a piece of Nefertimon's Rosetta Stone attack in the crater, along with marks that looked like Aquilamon's Blast Ring, and Angemon's Hand of Fate. Iori is shaking as he looks around the site of what had been a battle as he takes in the implications of it. He was quick to grab his D-Terminal, sending a message to everyone bar Takeru, Hikari, and Miyako to meet him at the coordinates he was at. It took a while as Ken had to go get Tachikawa Mimi as well, delivering her to Izzy's place before they all arrived.
Kamiya Taichi, Child of Courage, inhales sharply when he sees the goggles he had given his otouto to denote him as the new leader. His eyes reading the battle site around the goggles quickly, and he feels sick to his stomach as he goes to retrieve Daisuke's goggles. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Ishida Yamato, Child of Friendship's hands clenched into fists as he realizes what had happened as well, and his little brother's part in it. Ichijoji Ken, Child of Kindness, Tai notes, when he walks back over, is swaying on his feet, and being steadied by Takenouchi Sora, Child of Love. Tai watches as Izumi 'Izzy' Koushiro's eyes flick over the battlefield, taking in everything. Tai can see when the knowledge presents itself to the Child of Knowledge, " How could they? " Izzy voices this question aloud, unable to comprehend the fact that three of their own, six counting the partner Digimon, had willingly turned on one of theirs. Yamato had been manipulated by Cherrymon at a weak moment, this had been planned.
" Izzy, what are you talking about? " Kido Jyou, Child of Reliability asks.
With a heavy heart Tai fields the question for Izzy, " He's talking about how Takeru, Miyako, and Hikari, along with their partners willingly betrayed Daisuke. "
Tachikawa Mimi, Child of Sincerity is actually physically ill when she fully comprehends what the battle site around her meant, and Yamato was there holding back her hair while steadying her. Sora looked as ill as Tai felt, and Tai looks towards Jyou to see his reaction. The Child of Reliability's countenance was one of horrified disgust. Izzy swallows thickly as he starts thinking once more, moving past how very ill the notion of Daisuke and Veemon being betrayed in such a manner made him feel. It was highly suspicious that all that was left of them were Tai's old goggles. " Sora, head for Primary Village and see if Veemon's reformatted. " Izzy says, taking Ken's weight on himself. Daisuke had been the biggest driving force in freeing Ken from his downward destructive spiral.
Ken's D3 comes to life as only his and Iori's partners were with them, " Wormmon digivolve to...Stingmon. "
Stingmon picks up Sora and flies off with her to Primary Village. Mimi is standing by this time, but leaning heavily on Yamato, " How could someone whom inherited my crest do something like this? " Mimi asks in a broken voice with an undercurrent of steel to it.
" Iori, I know this is a hard question to ask you right now, but I need you to answer honestly. What were the team dynamics like between Daisuke and the others? No emotion in it, just your clinical analysis. " Tai asks the youngest of them.
The Inheritor of Knowledge and Reliability can be seen visibly gathering himself as he goes back over his memories, " Ken, I know this will be hard for you, but you would have a different perspective from my own. Would you be willing to share this perspective with all of us? " Iori asks the former Digimon Emperor/Kaiser.
" For Daisuke and Veemon I will. " Ken says, he was still leaning on Izzy, but his voice was strong.
Just before Iori can give them all a synopsis of the team dynamics between Daisuke and the others Stingmon and Sora return, " Elecmon says that Veemon has not been reformatted. " Sora reports.
Izzy frowns, " That means either Veemon was deleted and all trace of Daisuke was vaporized or there's something else going on here. "
Iori clears his throat and tells the others of the dynamics between Daisuke and the others from a purely observational point of view, just as Tai had asked. Ken adds his observations from when he was still Emperor as well, and a very disheartening picture was painted for the others. It was clear Takeru, Miyako, and Hikari had never respected Daisuke in the slightest. Comments they had taken to be teasing looked at in another light are rather malicious in nature, " Chikuso, how the Hell did we all miss this? " Yamato asks.
That was a question the others were all asking themselves except for Tai. He had already moved past that question, and was wondering what this meant for the Digital World and their partners.
Southern Quadrant, Takato's Native Dimension:
Once school ends Takato and Daisuke meet Kazu and Kenta at the park to play several rounds of the Digimon Card Game, Daisuke playing Kazu to get his ego back down to size. Takato had discreetly checked on his partner's digiegg throughout that day, and it had yet to hatch. Daisuke had convinced Takato during lunch to keep silent about digimon being real. Instead they just enjoy playing the card game with Kazu and Kenta before the pair have to head home. Takato's eyes widen as soon as they're out of earshot, " Dai, my partner hatched! "
Daisuke swears under his breath, and was grateful he had charged his cell phone overnight at Takato's place, he places a call to his grandmother, letting her know he'd eat at Takato's place, swinging his school bag onto his back as a tracking function pops up on Takato's digivice. After a brief conversation in which his grandma promises to call Rika and let her know as Daisuke follows his best friend. DemiVeemon had to get out of his hood and travel on his own as the places they had to go into were very cramped, " Taka, it's a very good thing neither one of us is claustrophobic. " Daisuke deadpans.
Takato chuckles even as they have to crawl through a rat infested space to reach a construction zone. Unknown to them Rika and a blue haired pre-teen with gray eyes both see the pillar of light created by the emergence of Takato's partner into the Human World. Both curse when a thick fog crops up, and Daisuke longs for his goggles. Takato strains his eyes, and they widen when he sees the outline of fresh form he'd created for Guilmon. When the fog clears Jyarimon uses his Nekki o Obita Awa attack, which was essentially scalding hot bobbles sent at an enemy, in this case a pair of rats. Takato makes his way over to his partner, " Jyarimon, I'm Matsuki Takato, your new partner. "
The red ball with bat wing shaped ears bounces to spin around and face the three with him. Daisuke holds DemiVeemon back, a gentle smile on his face. He still remembered his first meeting with Veemon fondly, even if he ended up getting chased by a Monochromon and almost dying.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
