Kindred Pairs
by milesprower06
'I am going to kick so much butt in gym class next year.' Takato thought to himself as he ran down the sidewalk as fast as he could, wondering how many shifts he'd have to pick up at the bakery to save up for a bike. He was headed back home at the fastest jogging pace his lungs would allow after pushing himself to break his mile record against Rika.
Henry was definitely going to be the first one home. He had also come to the track on a bike, and lived almost the same distance away, in addition to being the only one of the three that didn't just run a mile. He honestly wouldn't want to be Rika. She ran just as hard as he had, and while she also had come on bike, she lived nearly twice the distance away, and the only thing likely keeping her pace going was the same thing pushing him along; seeing their partners again.
It had been months since he had experienced an adrenaline rush like this. Not since rushing towards the D-Reaper core had he felt such a pressing need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. He turned the corner to his street, and saw the usual line out of the front entrance to the bakery. He wondered if the digital field had appeared yet, as that usually caused crowds to disperse.
Clutching the stopwatch in one hand, and his digivice in the other, he looked down at the compass, confirming that it was still pointed towards the bakery. Realizing he had forgotten his keys before leaving for the track, he knew that going in the side door wasn't an option, so continued towards the front door, and squeezed in past the line. Panting, he saw his mom busy with a customer, and continued his jog around the line and slipped past the counter into the back, where he found his dad icing a fresh batch of Guilmon-shaped cookies.
His eyes now directly glued onto his digivice's compass, he ran past the kitchen to get out of the way, and saw the holographic arrow rotate to the right, towards the living area and stairs. Still catching his breath, he turned towards the hallway, where the stairs leading to the second floor were on the left, and the side door on the right where the day-old product was kept. He looked towards the stairs, but didn't even have time to look over to the day-old table before he was tackled in a flying hug.
"Takatomon!"
Takato nearly ragdolled to the floor as his crimson dinosaur landed on top of him, and found his face relentlessly assaulted by his tongue. He wasn't grossed out by it or tried to stop it like he had a year ago on the roof of his school, as a lump in his throat grew. As Guilmon let up, Takato reached his arms up around his neck, latching onto him and pulled himself up into a sitting position as his partner stood up. His shoulders heaving, Takato began to quietly weep as he tightened the hug around the dinosaur's neck. No longer wondering why the boy's eyes were leaking, Guilmon gently put his arms around his back, and returned the embrace.
Having finished icing the cooled batch of cookies and putting another two trays into the oven, Takehiro had a moment to come back and check on the thud he had heard. Takato's partner had materialized in a patch of fog that had erupted right in the middle of the kitchen; enough to make the customers think something had caught fire. Once they had assessed the situation and the fog had cleared, they sent Guilmon to the back to snack on the day old products, both in an effort to keep it as much of a surprise to Takato as they could, and to cause as little disruption to the lunch rush.
Turning the corner and seeing the scene in the doorway, he knelt down and placed a hand on his son's quivering shoulder.
"I know you'll probably need a few minutes, but I just wanted to let you know that the phone has been ringing almost off the hook for you. Kazu, Kenta, Jeri... So you may get some visitors soon. Sounds like all of them came back."
Takato sniffled, and nodded, not taking his arms from around Guilmon.
"Thanks dad." He answered, just above a whisper. With that, Takehiro got to his feet and returned to the kitchen, while the reunion in the hallway continued.
With a small pack on her shoulders and Calumon cradled in her arms, Jeri made her way down the street towards the Matsuki Bakery.
"Mmm, I can smell the yummy buns from here!" Calumon exclaimed, eager to get some late lunch after the lengthy train ride here. By this time in the afternoon, the lunch rush had died down, and there was no longer a line out the front door.
"No worries, Mr. Matsuki said he'd have something ready for you. How are you hungry again, anyway? You had half of my bento box on the train ride over here."
"You can never get enough good food!"
The pair strolled through the front entrance, and saw Mr. Matsuki behind the display cases, and the single customer already inside was departing from the register with his bag.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Matsuki. How was lunch today?" Jeri asked, coming inside and giving a short bow.
"Pretty good, even considering the surprise digital visitor that popped into the kitchen in the middle of it all. Hey there, Calumon. I've got your favorite ready." Takehiro said, picking up a small paper bag from behind the counter and handing it over to the small white digimon, whose eyes widened even farther as he reached out and grabbed the bag.
"Oh thank you mister bun man sir!" Calumon answered, as he tipped the bag up, allowing it to envelope him as he began to happily munch on the chocolate cream puff.
"Are Takato and Guilmon here?" Jeri asked, as they were the reason for their visit.
"They're up in his room. I think Takato needed a rest after that run against Rika as well as the jog back here once Guilmon came back."
With a nod, Jeri headed back behind the register, quickly greeted Mrs. Matsuki as she passed through the kitchen on her way upstairs, making sure to keep the bag-covered Calumon leaning up against her as she headed up to the second floor. She headed over to the second door on the right, Takato's room, and quietly slid it open.
There, against one of the bedposts, sat Takato, head nearly leaning off to one side as he was catching a quick nap, a half-empty capped water bottle in the grasp of his right hand. Laying next to him, head on his lap, was Guilmon, whose ears were much more attentive, and immediately opened his eyes when he heard the rustling of the bag that Calumon was engorging himself under.
"Hey there, Jeri." Guilmon greeted, opening his yellow eyes with a smile, lifting his head off of Takato's leg. Feeling the weight leave roused the goggle-clad boy from his light nap.
"Oh, hi Jeri. Sorry about that, I figured a quick nap would help me recover from that run and jog before lunch." Takato said. He began to get up, but as soon as he put weight on his legs, he lost his balance and slumped over to his right, almost falling into Guilmon.
"Oof!"
"Are you alright?" Jeri asked.
"Yeah, yeah. His head put my leg to sleep, that's all." Takato answered, sitting back against the bedpost as he began vigorously rubbing to return the blood flow to his tingling right thigh. A few moments later, Calumon pushed the paper bag up and off of himself, getting caught by Jeri as it fluttered on it's way down to the floor. The diminutive white digimon had specks of chocolate breading and cream around his mouth as he licked his lips.
"Hi there, Guilmon!" He greeted, floating over to land on the crimson dinosaur's snout.
"I'm so glad to see that everyone made it back safely. Do you think we should try to get together soon?" The girl asked as Takato successfully got to his feet this time.
"Yeah, I definitely think that's in the cards soon. A picnic in the park would be a nice way to relax with everyone. I've actually been thinking of what to bring for everyone. If we all brought dishes, it could be quite the meal."
"I could certainly whip something up from our restaurant. We just have to get a hold of everyone and decide on a date."
Jeri nodded with a smile.
"Sounds like a plan!" Jeri replied, turning to look at Guilmon licking the remains of the cream puff off of Calumon, sending him into a fit of laughter.
"It is so great to have everyone back."