I'm sorry for the very late update. Truth to be told, I'm surprised to that I was able to write this. I have a curse you see. If you check my profile, you'll see that my multi-chapter fics are all incomplete. That's my curse. I can only write 3 chapters before I stop updating. So I guess I broke the curse? Yay.

But I'm really sorry for having you readers put up with me. I have a commitment issue. This chapter in particular is a bit hard to write too because I couldn't figure out how to proceed with it. But if you don't care about that and just want to read, here you go. Enjoy

Shiuchon sighs in relief as the door to her room closes behind her. Her soft bed hugs her as she plops on it facedown.

Dinner went surprisingly well. No breakdown, fortunately no creating scenes because she kept stumbling on her steps— She really needs to get used to this body. And most important of all, nobody suspecting her as an adult in a child's body.

Pft, as if the idea would even cross their mind. It's too out of this world. And the "nightmare" bout she had two days ago is enough to explain her behavior in her family's eyes.

Though she has to admit it's funny what Jen-niichan thinks her supposed nightmare was. If mom ever explains it to him, Shiuchon can still justify that she doesn't want to talk about it anymore, so it's not a big deal. And it's the truth too.

She rolls around to a more comfortable position. Ah yes, that's better, she thinks as she lies on her side, hugging her pillow.

Because mom only made her promise to not go out without her or dad's permission, plus about a hundred more of the same promise just worded differently, Shiuchon's plan hasn't changed much. But since she has Takato's notebook hidden away in her school bag, she has a valid excuse to meet him sooner than planned.

Tomorrow first thing in the morning, she'll meet Takato.She can start changing the future in her favour at last.

Blue crystal walls greet Takato, his reflections staring back. There are 4 in total, enclosing on him and trapping him inside the narrow space. The ceiling rests right above his head.

"Where-" as panic grips him, his hand accidentally lands on the wall beside him. The place he touches ripples as if made of water before clearing up, revealing a girl on the street facing a flaming creature— Lynxmon?

He pulls back in surprise and bumps into the wall behind him. The one beside him muddles up again.

Something over his shoulder catches his eyes. Beyond the wall on his back, a child weeps. Nothing but black void and wavy lines surround him. Dangling in his hand is a Digivice not unlike Takato's own, only that it's golden at the rim and intricately carved.

When Takato pulls himself straight, the child is replaced by Takato's own confused face.

"Hello?" Takato says, his voice echoing in the cramped space.

Takato's eyes fall on the wall to his right. Curious, he lifts a finger and taps on it. The ripples clear up the wall for a bit and show him a giant clock made of metal, and then it's gone. He frowns.

He presses on it this time, intent on finding out what exactly is the thing he saw.

Ripples form on the wall again, showing him the exact same giant clock. It doesn't surprise him so much as it piques his curiosity… until Takato discovers its single glaring eye.

"Ah!" He jumps away.

"He doesn't have much time," a voice echoes from the now muddling up wall. The clock-face soon disappears.

In Takato's surprise, his hand lands on the last wall in front of him. This time, it's a girl sleeping on her bed.

The magenta hair. It's the girl he bumped into yesterday.

As Takato tries to figure out what exactly is going on, the cramped space crumbles and he begins losing his sense of reality.

When he's about to come to, another voice echoes, sounding like a child. Strangely, for every name the child calls, Takato somehow knows who they are referring to.

"Dad." Himself.

"Mom." The girl facing Lynxmon.

"Clockmon." The clock-face.

"Auntie Shiuchon." The magenta-haired girl.

Then, the other voice from earlier calls out to him. "Please. Free him with your D-Ark. Quickly. He doesn't have long."

Soon, the place fades away.

What a strange dream.

Takato lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling, wondering what in the world he ate for dinner to come up with a dream like that. Was it the nato?

While dreaming about made-up Digimon is nothing new, dreaming about unknown people is.

The child and that girl with Lynxmon. He doesn't know them at all. Then there was that other girl. Why would he dream about her of all people?

Strange.

With a yawn, Takato pulls himself up and stretches, enjoying the feeling as he does so.

It's still dark out, he notes after looking at the window. And the rain last night still hasn't stopped.

With every bit of the dream crumbling away from his memory, boredom begins to fill the gap. He rarely wakes up this early, but going back to sleep isn't much enticing now that he's fully awake.

He looks up and taps his cheek. What can he do to kill time? His eyes fall on the red-rimmed Digivice lying beside his pillow.

"D-Ark."

That's what that clock Digimon calls it. Takato doesn't know how he knows this is what the Digimon was talking about; he just… knows. He also knows that it sounds cooler than Digivice so he's calling it that from now on.

Takato picks it up and compares it to the intricately carved golden D-Ark in his dream. It's amazing how many details he remembers when usually he forgets everything the moment he's sober.

Just like yesterday, it still displays "no data" when he pushes on the buttons.

Hm… Why does it feel like he's forgetting something—

Right! He snaps his fingers and breaks into a smile. He wanted to scan Guilmon's drawing last night to see if it could bring him to life.

Yeah, he realizes how silly that idea sounds now. But hey, his card reader turned into a D-Ark. It's worth a try. If it doesn't work, it doesn't. (But he's betting that it will!)

His notebook is still missing, but there's nothing he can do about that. He should probably just make a new one.

Takato reaches for the alarm clock and squints at it. About 5 in the morning. That's enough time before school starts.

"Just wait, Guilmon. I'll draw you better, bigger, stronger." And in a proper drawing book this time. That way he'll never misplace it.

Climbing down his bed, he sets to work.

Right on the alarm's first ring, Shiuchon's fist slams it shut. She yawns and rubs her eyes.

Looking at the alarm again, she draws a small smile. Today is a new day. And today she's going to cook.

If she's being loud, then everyone is too deep in sleep because no one sober would miss the cling clang that is her messing up the kitchen. Not like they can fault her for her new-old tiny body. She's still trying to adapt anyway so what's the harm in lifting rice cookers and pans except to her back.

She checks up on her ingredients and nodded in satisfaction.

She's not going for anything fancy. Just egg rolls and miso soup. Also some chilli to the egg rolls just the way dad likes it. Of course she'll make them separate, otherwise Jaarin-neechan will end up in the hospital. Despite all her tempers, her sister's taste buds don't do well against spiciness.

Lesson one in body coordination is trying to cook on a chair with an oversized apron is a bit awkward, but she manages.

While Shiuchon waits for her dashi to boil, she beats the eggs and pours little by little into the pan. She folds it once it hardens, repeating it a few times.

Once the dashi starts bubbling, she puts in the miso, followed by diced tofu. She stirs it as a nostalgic smile pulled at her lips.

Makato actually hated tofu. Wouldn't eat it no matter how well she disguised it.

"What a picky guy," she says as the smile turns into a frown.

Shiuchon turns her attention again to the miso and deems she has stirred it more than enough.

She makes dad's egg rolls last, putting more attention and care into it than the rest. He deserves the best.

By the time someone decides the kitchen is noisier than it should be, the rice has already cooked and the table set. Mom stares at her wide-eyed from the entrance as Shiuchon removes her apron.

"Shiuchon? Did you make all this?" Mom asks as she looks at the food on the table.

Shiuchon nodded. And she'll make more and more whenever she can to make up for all the time she wasn't there to eat mom's cooking.

"These look good. Who taught you?" Mom looked at Shiuchon, surprise and amazement accompanying the question.

Shiuchon shrugs but internally huffs in pride. "We wearned at schoow."

She did learn at school, during grade 5 and above. Mom will find out later that home economics isn't in her curriculum yet, but that's a bridge she'll cross later.

"Mom?"

"Something the matter, Shiuchon?"

"I wove you."

Jenrya watches his little sister eat her food like a starved stray. Cat or dog, he's not sure, but he can imagine her wagging her tail if she had any by the way she's smiling.

He can tell she's excited about something. It's an improvement from the last few days at least. Though he's not at fault here for being curious of why.

"Eat slowly, Shiuchon. You don't wanna choke," dad chides. She at least has the decency to look ashamed. But despite that, her hands and mouth don't get any slower. In fact, it's the opposite.

"Sowwy. Have to huwwy," she says after swallowing. Dad barely raises a finger before she starts to vacuum the food again. At that speed, Jenrya won't be surprised if she becomes the first person in the world to choke on tofu.

Not 5 minutes later, she finishes her food and dashed out of the kitchen. Amazingly, her bowl is still intact even with all the fumbling while she washes it. The other amazing thing is her washing dishes at all.

"Bye mom, bye dad, bye everyone! Wove you!" Shiuchon waves her goodbye after giving a kiss to mom and dad. They can hear her stomping all the way to her room.

"Uh…" Rinchei-niichan conveys his question with the eloquence of a car engine. He moves his hand in vague motions as if that would make it clearer.

Nobody answers him because Shiuchon's footsteps return at least one kilo heavier as she stops by the kitchen's entrance, her school bag dangling in her hand.

"I'm going to schoow fiwst, okay. Awwight, bye. Wove you!"

And again she disappears, now for the front door. The neighbors below are gonna complain for sure.

Dad pauses from eating, looking concerned. Meanwhile, Jaarin-neechan is more concerned with eyeing around her as if a ghost would pop up. She's been doing that a lot lately.

Mom is the only one not bothered by whatever that's gotten into Shiuchon. Or at least she's more bothered with her food.

"Not bad," she mutters.

Turning to Rinchei-niichan, Jenrya shrugs and gives his only brother the answer to his previous question. "Uh."

Jenrya turns back to his food. Must be mom's new recipe because it's usually not this salty. But she's right. It's not bad. Just different.

Jenrya finishes his food and carries up his bowl to the sink. "I'll look after Shiuchon. See you."

Dad nods, worries creasing his face. The bits of conversation he hears after leaving the kitchen sound like an argument building up, so he quickly leaves before getting caught up in it.

"How can you not be worried? Something's not right."

"Honey, our girl is growing up. And I think we'll just hold her back if we keep trying to put her on a leash."

"I understand that but this is just too sudden, especially that letter she got. I know Mori-sensei is a good person, but his friend could be a scammer for all we know. Since when is Shiuchon... well, I know my daughter. She's smart in her own way, but genius isn't it."

"That's why I said we're holding her back. Shiuchon's good at acting, you know. She's been trying not to cry during dinner yesterday. Didn't you notice?"

"You don't mean..."

Yeah, Jenrya doesn't envy his older siblings.

While Jenrya waits in the elevator, he pulls out his Digivice and a note from Terriermon. "Going after Shiuchon," the note says.

He notices that the arrow on the Digivice's screen is definitelynotpointing in the school's direction.

One thing about having Terriermon as a partner is that the Digimon likes to do his own things, usually without telling him. It usually leads to a mess, but this time, that mess is his sister. That girl is dead wrong if she thinks she can get away after what happened yesterday.

He'll need to thank Terriermon later.

"Happy birthday, Shiuchon!" They cheered as she blew onto her candles. Some of the confetti landed on the cake but that barely bothered her.

Today she was 8 years old, one year older since D-Reaper… one year older since meeting and losing her two best friends.

Dad was nowhere to be seen in the room. Only mom, her siblings, and most of the Tamers. Good, she liked it that way.

"Here's your present, Shiuchon," they all basically said only in different wordings, and she politely responded to them all. If anybody saw through her fake smile, they kept quiet.

Her siblings all got her a princess toy set, to which they all (except Shiuchon) laughed at once she teared the wrappings.

Mom got her the prettiest dress Shiuchon had ever seen. Sparkly and all that.

Hirokazu-niichan and Kenta-niichan pooled their money and bought her a premium Digimon card pack. They also brought Ryo-niichan's present since he couldn't come. Hirokazu-niichan sulked when he saw all of Ryo-niichan's own cards in it.

Juri-neechan got her a doll. A bunny doll to be precise. Everyone gave her a look after that. Shiuchon didn't say anything and just hugged the older girl in thanks.

Ruki-neechan's present was the simplest; money. Her reason was Shiuchon could buy anything she wanted with it, instead of getting disappointed not getting her desired present. In a way, Ruki-neechan was right.

Despite all the extra presents this year, something her one year younger self would kill to get, Shiuchon found it hard to even be happy about it. She appreciated them, of course. But these weren't the present she wanted. Not even one came close except for Juri-neechan's.

But she couldn't exactly blame them. Everyone avoided talking about what happened a year ago. Nobody liked to be reminded of it after all.

She sighed and put away her presents. It looked like these were all that was getting this year. At least she thought so before the front door burst open.

A sweating Takato-niichan barged in, holding a steaming cardboard box. Behind him was dad, similarly sweating and leaning on the doorframe for balance, the twins he was holding jumping down from his arms.

Mako-chan and Ai-chan were coated in flour all over. In fact, when Shiuchon gave a better look, all four of them were coated in something one way or another; flour, food coloring, and chocolate rice.

Takato-niichan gasped as he ran towards her.

"Hot present coming!"

Everyone made way for him until he arrived in front of Shiuchon, kneeling.

He held up a hand. "W-wait for… a bit. I… need… to catch… my breath."

While he did that, Shiuchon looked at the box in curiosity. There was a plastic wrap covering the top of it, too blurred by steam to make out the inside. Bread?

"Shiuchon," Takato-niichan started once he started breathing like normal again. Looking at his face, Shiuchon sees guilt drawn across it.

"I know this isn't what you want, and you might hate me for this," he said, looking at her in the eyes. "But I hope it's at least something close, something you can look back to to remember him by."

He unwrapped the plastic, the steam dispersing to let her see its content.

Shiuchon choked.

"Lopmon?"

Inside was a few pieces of bread, all shaped like her partner's smiling face. A note was attached on the inside of the box.

"Forget not that I shall always be by thy side. Happy birthday," she read out loud and couldn't contain her tears anymore. Shiuchon looked at Takato-niichan, tears and snots running down her face.

His guilt from earlier doubled and he stood up, averting his gaze from her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

Shiuchon's hug stole the words from his mouth.

"I wike it. Thank you!" For not treating her like glass, for not acting like Lopmon never existed, for giving this to her on her most important day. "Thank you, Takato."

It was a slip of the tongue calling him without an honorific, but he didn't mind. Instead, he bent down, put down the box, and wrapped his arms around her as she cried onto his chest.

"I miss him," she whispered.

"Yeah, I miss him too. I miss all of them."

From that day onward, Takato always had a Lopmon bread ready whenever she went to the bakery. He even made Terriermon bread sometimes. Soon, she got used to calling him by just his name. And how could she forget having developed a crush on him (that was later broken to bits when he went out with Juri and then Ruki)? Good times, good times.

Now, once again, Shiuchon finds herself before the bakery that gave her life a meaning, at least before she ran away from home. It's already open so all she has to do is step in. And step in she does, the long-forgotten smell of Lopmon bread dancing around her like an old friend.

Mie places the new batch of bread on the rack, fresh from the oven.

It's early and the street is still not very crowded, so every "pew pew" and its variations her son is making upstairs make up for the lack of noise.

She shakes her head in amusement.

Whatever getting him this excited woke him up early today. He'd better already be all set for school if he's going waste time pewpewing. She doesn't need another call from school about his tardiness.

Mie slips out of her musing when a customer steps into the door.

A very young customer, slightly younger than Takato, eyes about the bakery in wonder. By the way the girl is sniffing and smiling at the bread's smell, Mie knows the girl must have the best ones the bakery can offer. It won't do to ruin her first impression here.

Their eyes meet and the girl bows shakily, fiddling with her hands. A shy one huh.

"Good morning, Matsuda-san," the girl greets.

Mie gives a curious stare.

The bakeryisnamed after their family name, so it's not a surprise to hear customers call her that, but itisstrange coming from a first time customer.

Mie drops out of her musing and smiles hoping to appear friendly. The girl seems like the type to run away from just an eye contact with all her fidgeting.

"Good morning. What would you like to have? We have bread with chocolate filling over there. Would you like that?" Mie decides to help the girl and picks up a tray from the pantry.

The girl perks up at that, which Mie takes as a success, but her face falls soon after. It probably has something to do with her patting her pockets. Looks like the poor dear forgot to bring money.

The girl shakes her head with a disappointed look before pulling out a notebook from her bag. She holds it out for Mie.

"I came to wetuwn this. Takato dwopped it."

It's a red notebook. Come to think of it, Takato did ask if she saw his notebook last night. Mie takes it out of the girl's hand and sees her son's name on it.

"Oh my. Thank you. I'll remind that boy to not trouble young ladies like you again, okay," Mie jokes.

The girl chuckles but shakes her head. "It's no twouble at all. I have something I want to tawk about with him anyway."

Mie nods, casually looking for the best chocolate filled bread she can find. The girl did come all the way here. What's a couple of bread for her trouble?

"So, you're a friend of Takato?" Mie tries to strike up a conversation while she guesses which one of the bread batch has more chocolate in it.

"Not weawwy," the girl laughs nervously.

Mie raises a brow, to which the girl bites her lip as she fidgets in place.

"I mean, I know Takato but he doesn't know me– Wait! That sounds wwong. I mean that, um, Takato is… fwiends with my bwothew?"

Mie totally doesn't suspect the girl's smooth attempt at lying. She eyes said girl who suddenly happens to be fascinated by the floor.

After picking up the best two pieces of bread from the pantry, Mie gestures to the girl to follow her and takes the bread to the counter.

Her son having someone crushing on him isn't the end of the world. She'll let the girl keep her secret.

"Well then," Mie puts down the bread before pulling out a paper bag. "I hope it's no trouble either that you accept this as a thanks." She holds out the bag, now containing two of the most chocolatey bread in the bakery (or at least she hopes so).

"Weally?" The girl's face brightens and Mie feels her heart skip a beat. If this girl ever decides to weaponize her cuteness, Mie knows her heart won't stand a chance.

The girl bows and rises back so quick Mie worries for her neck.

"Thank you!"

Mie smiles, waving her hand. "It's fine. Are you going to school with Takato?"

When the girl doesn't answer, Mie looks down to find the girl deep in thought. She doesn't take long and nods soon after.

"Yeah."

Mie doesn't think too deep into it. Children are quirky like that.

Speaking of the devil…

A very loud set of footsteps finally decide to come down from upstairs.

"Mom, I'm going to schoo–"

Takato who's about to leave from the side door blinks in surprise at seeing the girl, who in turn just waves at him in embarrassment.

"Sowwy fow intwuding."

There weren't that many blind spots around the bakery, but Terriermon managed to squeeze behind a potted plant by the wall. So far, listening to the scene before him only provides more questions than answers.

There used to be only two things that Terriermon considers an enigma. One, his existence, because he's philosophical like that. Two, human children's lack of respect towards plushies.

But now, there's a third contender. Shiuchon.

"Sowwy fow intwuding," she says behind the wall, all polite and embarrassed. And isn't that strange? Since when are polite and embarrassed used in the same sentence as that girl?

Terriermon doesn't believe in supernaturals, but if she's being possessed, he can't say he's surprised. Nothing about her makes sense ever since she got that nightmare.

The door opens and Shiuchon along with a boy about Jen's age steps out.

"You kids be careful!"

"Okay! Bye, mom!"

As Terriermon jumped from roof to roof and trees to trees, hoping to not be noticed, the two begin a conversation not unlike strangers meeting each other for the first time.

Strange. He thought they're close friends with how familiar she's acting around the boy.

"I'm Shiuchon."

"Takato. And sorry about yesterday."

"It's fine, it's fine. I've been wanting to tawk to you anyway."

"Really?"

Wow. Didn't know Shiuchon is such a smooth talker. 7 years old and already hitting on a guy she barely knows. She's definitely possessed.

"You'we twying to cweate a Digimon, wight?"

...say wha–

"Ah!"

His surprise throws him off balance, causing him to miss a branch and land on top of a sleeping dog. Well, was sleeping. The dog now has its eyes on him. However, it doesn't seem to be the ferocious type he sees on TV. Good, he sighs in relief.

Seeing no danger, he stands up and calmly dusts himself off.

"Sorry, buddy. Didn't mean to bother you."

Terriermon can still hear Shiuchon and the boy's voices behind the stone fence, so he still can catch up to them if he's quick.

Before he can jump away to chase them, the dog's whimper stops him.

A quick look at it shows the dog sadly pawing at him like a kicked puppy. The analogy isn't far off, but Terriermon thinks he knows the real reason.

He stares at the leash connecting the dog's collar to the doghouse.

"So you're chained, huh. Poor guy."

The dog whines and rolls on the ground, pawing at its collar and pleading to be released.

Terriermon sighs. He can hear Jen's voice nagging him for this.

Patting the dog, Terriermon slowly tears the leash with his claw.

"Now you're free. Take care, okay."

The dog jumps in joy at being able to run freely again and licks Terriermon a few times, probably as a thanks.

"Okay, okay! You're welcome!" He chuckles, gently pushing the dog away. "Bye then."

The dog whines again when he jumps onto the fence and starts moving again.

Terriermon tries to look for either Shiuchon or her friend's voice, but the bustling street makes it hard to even discern one noise from another. Damn it.

Oh whatever.

He's not familiar with this route, so the best he can do now is go back the way he came and find Shiuchon at school. He'll probably meet Jen along the way too. At least he has something good to tell. Jen won't believe what he's about to hear.

When Terriermon is far enough from the house he fell into, he looks back to see the dog escaping and is now making way for who knows where.

This situation is certainly strange.

First, he dreamed about a girl he only met a day before. Second, the same girl appeared on his doorstep and is now accompanying him to school. And third, as it turned out, the name he heard in his dream is actually her real name, which is creepy. He knows her brother didn't shout her name yesterday, because Takato distinctly remembers him saying "Hey!" and glaring at him instead.

Takato admits that he has been wishing for his wild imagination to come true, like aliens invading earth or something so he can be a hero. But wishing and differentiating between reality and fantasy are two different things. So why does this situation feel like a sci-fi manga opening scene?

"You'we cweating a Digimon, wight?"

"Wh-what?" Takato chokes on air, looking around for a camera shooting them. Prank shows are a thing and he's not dumb enough to fall for one. Nuh uh.

When he doesn't see any, he decides that maybe he is dumb. He leans in to her, hissing every word.

"How do you know?"

The girl bites her lip and looks as if her teacher just asked a very difficult question. Like any number multiplied by 8 instead of 10 or 5 because teachers like to see students suffer.

"Takato... niisan," she says the honorific as if it's an afterthought. Quite late he might add. She's been addressing him without it since they started talking. "Do you bewieve in dweams?"

...yeah, this does feel like a manga opening scene.

"Dreams? Like, future dreams or sleep dreams?"

The question gets him a stare straight to the soul as she stops in her tracks.

"Sweep dweams that show you the futuwe."

If that's nerve-wracking, the follow up to that flips the world upside down.

"Matsuda Takato. I need youw hewp, because my dad's going to wuin that futuwe without even knowing it."

Takato feels suspense, surprise, and confusion all at the same time. But the atmosphere is so heavy he can't even lift his tongue to say anything. But the girl keeps talking.

"I know this is a lot to take in. But I weawwy need youw hewp. You'we a key pwayew. Takato, you wanted to be a hewo, wight? This is it."

That's the last thing she says before they start moving again. Takato's legs are wiggling like noodles and remain so until they reach an intersection. The light is kind enough to stay red for his nerves to calm down.

Rethinking over her words only opens up more and more question.

This is too bizzare even for his imagination. And the prank possibility is still there.

But... the dreams she mentioned. Could it be related to his? The weeping boy, the spiky haired girl, and that giant clock digimon?

Before he can form a question, a series of barks gets louder and louder from behind him. A flash of brown fur catches his attention and his eyes follow it only to see a dog pouncing the girl... into an incoming truck.

"Shiuchon!"

To his surprise, the girl fixes her footing in time and jumps back with the dog, safely landing beside the road save for some scraping. Despite the near death experience, she stands up just as quickly and looks around in panic as if searching for something. In her heavy breathing, he hears her say only one thing:

"Cwockmon."

"Kid! You okay?!" The driver comes out and approaches them, but Takato's attention remains on the girl.

Clockmon. The same Digimon he heard in his dream.

His whole reality is crashing down onto him.

It's official. This isn't a prank. Takato has just gotten himself into something really, really big.

Shiuchon decides being a little direct won't hurt this time.

Guilt is one of the reasons she still hasn't reached out to her brother, but the other reason is the risk behind it.

Her brothertrustsdad, and while she doubts he's going to tell dad immediately after hearing her secret, she can't allow him to slip it out.

For all that she loves and wants to fix her relationship with that man, she has full certainty that he will do the same thing he did back then even if Shiuchon tells him about it. She's not gonna risk that.

But Takato is a third party. He has no connection to her family yet. That mitigates the risk. And down the road she'll convince him enough to join her, so spilling her secret to Takato now is worth the investment.

"Do you bewieve in dweams?" she says a bit cryptically.

Time travel is a pain to explain, especially since she doesn't know how she ended up like this. It'll open up more questions on both sides, so she'd rather just be done with it. Dreams don't need any explanation because they just happen.

"Dreams? Like, future dreams or sleep dreams?"

Ah yes. Should be more specific.

Shiuchon turns around and stared into his eyes.

"Sweep dweams that show you the futuwe."

It's easy to forget that she's talking to a kid when she has known Takato for almost all her life, but the unbelievable shock that falls on his face makes sure to remind her of that.

Kids are precious little creatures. As long as it fits their fantasy, she can make up any lie and they'll believe it. Shiuchon is telling the truth yet why is she feeling so bad about this?

Taking another look at him, she has to commend his skepticism as he thinks over her words.

She takes a heavy breath.

"Matsuda Takato. I need youw hewp. My dad's going to wuin that futuwe without even knowing it."

She bites her lip for her next words, wondering if it's even right to do this. Fiddling with her bag helps her say it without grimacing.

"I know this is a lot to take in. But I really need youw hewp. You'we a key pwayew. Takato, you wanted to be a hewo, wight? This is it."

To think she'd come so low as to manipulate kids to do her bidding. Memories of Takato admitting his fantasy back in the days, who knew it'd come back to be used against him? By her no less.

Taking another deep breath, she turns around and focused on walking. She'll let him decide on his own, but she doubts he's gonna refuse. Takato is too nice. He'll help anybody that asks.

Nothing will wash away this foul taste from her mouth...

Takato says nothing the whole way to the intersection. It's a lot to take in after all, so she lets him be. Instead, she kept her eyes on the road before her, the culmination of her karma.

She doesn't remember how she ended up like that back in the future-past, but the experience isn't something she's forgetting anytime soon. In fact, it feels as if she's reliving it.

Someone pushing her from behind, the ground swallowing her up, the blaring horns, and most importantly, a familiar voice shouting her name.

The only thing missing is the crash and the spinning that followed. But that never comes.

What comes instead is a feeling of nothingness. With the ground half a meter away from her face, it feels like time just stops... because it does.

Shiuchon can't breathe, and her body won't move. Not a single muscle. She's frozen solid. But she can still think straight, once her panic begins to recede.

The unasked question gets its answer in the form of a towering shadow above her. Only its lower body is visible to her, but it's all made of metal.

"I can only buy you a second."

To Shiuchon's surprise, her mouth can move.

"What?"

But the moment she says that, the shadow of the truck moves at least a quarter an inch closer. And closer.

"I'm breaking the law as it is helping you like this, so make it worth it. Move fast. When I push you, run in the other direction. You have 1 second."

"W-wait, who awe you? What's happening."

"Clockmon. Not enough time to explain. I hope you're ready. Now!"

Shiuchon hears a heavy creaking of metal as if breaking before seeing the ground moves away from her.

"1 second!"

That's her last warning.

Stomping on the ground with one leg, she turns around and wraps her arm around whatever it is that shoved her. The surprise at seeing a dog is overshadowed by her sense of survival. With her stance firm, she kicked off and lands on the sidewalk, the momentum rolling her and the dog a bit further away. Hee body aches but that's not important.

"Kid! You okay?!"

The concerned man's voice drowns in the sea of noises around her.

Her whole body shaking, Shiuchon lets go of the dog and pulls herself up. She tries to find the metal Digimon that saved her behind the growing crowd, but fails to find any trail.

"Cwockmon."

That Digimon is the missing puzzle in this whole time travel mess. She's sure of it

[Omake]

Hirokazu likes to think that Takato is the most innocent thing ever to grace this world. That guy can't even go to toilet without telling his parents. So to have that image shattered to pieces by Takato's own mom is something a bit hard to swallow. He came here to buy bread, not to have his world flipped upside down!

"Hang on, did I hear that right?"

Hirokazu pulls out his handkerchief and quickly cleans his ears.Then he looks at the woman again, dread in his eyes.

"Matsuda-san, did you just say that Takato has a..." He gulps. "Girlfriend?"

The woman laughs as she keys in the price for his purchase.

"Well, not really girlfriend. She says Takato doesn't know her, but it's obvious she has her eyes on him."

Hirokazu growls and makes a fighting stance, punching the air like a boxer he saw on TV.

"Who's that girl? Lemme at her! She must want to do something bad to Takato. There's no way a stalker girl like that has a good intention for him." He pauses as he rethinks his words. "Well, maybe except Katou-san."

"Now, now, Hiro-chan. Don't be like that. She's a pretty nice girl. A bit shy too. So you don't have to worry."

Takato's dad who was listening in on their conversation laughs as he places a batch of bread on the pantry. "Hah! Hiro-chan. So cute."

Hirokazu crosses his arms and looks away, cheeks red. "What about it?"

"Yeah, Hiro-kun. What about it?" Takato's mom teased her husband back. The man shuts up and continues with his work, his whole face just as red.

Hirokazu chuckles at his victory. Take that! Hirokazu 1, Matsuda Takehiro 0.

As if hearing his thoughts, the man glares at him so he does the same.

"We're not done," the man sends the message through their shared connection.

"Oh it is on," Hirokazu replies.

The man goes back to the kitchen, all the while never breaking eye contact with him.

Takato's mom just laughs at their interaction and hands Hirokazu his paper bag.

"I still don't understand how you two can communicate like that honestly."

"Eh, it's a boy thing."

Takato's mom nods. "Fair enough."

"So, about the girl." Hirokazu isn't done yet. This is too important for him to just let go. "Are you sure she really just likes Takato? No hidden motive or anything?"

"Nope. Doesn't seem like it. I'm sure you'll like her. You remember when you and Takato first met? She acted the same way."

Hirokazu tries to recall back to the memory of a very shy boy from 5 years ago. So innocent and pure. And if the girl is the same as him...

"So basically this is just an angel meeting another angel?"

Takato's mom snaps her finger and points at him. "Exactly."

"Oh, I was worried for nothing." Hirokazu sighs, relieved. "Still, to think Takato would have a girlfriend–"

"Matsuda-kun has a girlfriend?!" A voice shouts from the entrance.

Hirokazu blinks. "Ah, Katou-san. Morning."

Talk about the devil.

"Oh dear. Here we go again." Takato's mom shakes her head.

Again, sorry for the late update. I hope it's to your liking.

Tell me if it's a bit too fast, because I think a lot stuff happen in this chapter:

First we have Takato's relationship with the mysterious boy, then that clock Digimon.

After that we have Shiuchon's parents arguing about her sudden change.

Terriermon's scene may seem like a filler at first, but then boom, the dog smelled Terriermon on Shiuchon. Dog's sense of smell is amazing.

And of course, Shiuchon's dilemma about using Takato to advance her plan. That's my favorite part of this chapter.

Lastly the Clockmon scene. It's not as good as I'd imagined it'd be, but I hope it's to your satisfaction. (This Clockmon has the same design as the one in Xros Wars.)

As you can see, that's a lot crammed into one chapter.

If you think that's a bit too fast, tell me. I'll slow the story a bit.

About the omake, I think it is funny that Hirokazu thought Shiuchon has a hidden motive towards Takato. Because it's true. I've always planned to write Shiuchon as a kind adult, but here, her being manipulative just fits. She's desperate to change the future.