Note 1: This chapter is dedicated to another friend of mine. Today it's her birthday so I decided to give her a little surprise basing on her love for Yang and some request of hers I've been taking in consideration for a long time.
Note 2: It's a VERY mushy chapter but somehow I feel so satisfied about this? Yeah, it's like if if directly comes from my heart. I don't really know how to express this feeling!
XXX
[ Act III •1 In which a single day is enough to introduce you to Yang's enlarged family. ]
XXX
Getting out of the hospital, he brought two fingers to his mouth and sent a flying kiss to that building, to a specific floor of its, to a particular room and to...A crib that was decorated with colourful ribbons.
What it was like to take courage and show up at the hospital, to see his mother, his sister, his grandparents after such a long time? There was also his younger step-sister he had never got to know, as he had decided to completely part from his mother and his new husband after the girl's birth.
He couldn't really explain what he felt when he saw them sitting so closely to the bed, their blissful tears and proud smiles. Probably he didn't feel anything, probably his heart had remained as dry as a desert even when his mother's hands and his touched for an imperceptible second.
"Uhm, these flowers were sent by a gentleman who's called Su Wen," He had kindly raised the bouquet he was holding in his hands and had given it to the woman. He was already going away, but he was won by the temptation to ask if he could take a look at the newborn.
After all, he was just a postman his father had sent to express his congratulations to his former family; he was just a stranger nobody could recognize who just wanted to see a baby. That was what he was and he never felt the desire to turn and reveal his true identity. No, he didn't belong to that past anymore.
"What a fine young man," He had heard his grandmother saying and that was the only time he had felt his true being surfacing, as if the old woman did know who he was in truth.
It wouldn't have been a big surprise if she had been so insightful, though: he was the spit image of his father, he carried his genes and nothing could have ever changed that, unfortunately to him.
Even pretending to be a mailman hiding a pilot uniform under an old and biggy mountgomery.
It wasn't biggy enough to keep him from falling victim of that frozen January, though. That was weird, wasn't it?
XXX
"You could have asked for some free days to spend New Year's Eve with us, I swear. You should have seen Hirokazu trying cheating at every card game and complaining about the humiliating defeat me, Itsuki and Juri inflicted upon him. He even fell on the ice while holding onto Jen and Kenta while we were heading to the temple. Takato took a photo and I think its background is even more exhilarating than Hirokazu himself."
The jovial voice took a break from that funny tale to scroll through a long gallery, mumbling how necessary it was to put some photos on the Pc.
"Okay, I have found it. Don't spill the tea on the sofa, though."
Ruki slowly yet excitingly lowered her arm to pass him her phone; she was so curious about his reaction she kept standing behing the sofa, her elbows on its backrest and both Coronamon and Renamon joining her trepidation. She had predicted Yang would laugh at once.
"Man," He covered his mouth, which was still full of tea, and wisely decided to put the cup on the short glass table before focusing himself on every detail of that photo. "Was he so drunk? He must have hit his nose so hard," He uncontrollably chuckled while zooming on Hirokazu's frightened and flushed face, on his arms that were splayed like if he believed he could fly to avoid the collision.
"Yes, his nose was a mess after the impact. Jen panicked like always asking everyone for tissues because the blood wouldn't just stop flowing".
"What a great way to start a new year, I guess," He tried calming down pressing his belly but Ruki wasn't ready to put an end to that fun yet: who knew how many times he had told people about that story, he told himself; judging from Renamon's bored face, he could imagine it was the tenth time the digital fox was listening to Ruki narrating that event.
They smiled at each other, Ruki's smirk was so accentuated she was almost going to betray her future intentions.
"But you aren't a good observer," She began, grabbing the phone and placing her fingers on three silhouettes standing in the background. Now Yang had tears in the corner of his pitch black eyes and he was wondering how he could have missed such an important part of the photo. "I suppose Hana regretted having come to our Tamers' New Year meeting at that instant. She would have liked to bury herself, poor woman."
Actually the short-haired figure was expressing desperation from head to toe: her hands framing her cheeks and her opened mouth; she looked like a real representation of Munch's Shout. Atsuko and Makoto were next to her, staring at Hirokazu in horror and resignation...Especially Atsuko and her covered and embarassed face.
"I did miss a wonderful night, apparently," Some last giggles came out from his lungs and he quieted down, coughing as he hadn't fully recovered from his cold yet.
"Yes, you did, but you preferred celebrating New Year's Eve in Spain to staying with us, your precious family," Ruki mocked him, returning to the kitchen and bringing herself to start emptying the dishwasher.
Of course, he stood up to help her, even if he arrested himself next to the table for some seconds, almost resentful. Ruki did know what was going on in his mind but pretended not to have noticed that sudden change of mood he had just undergone through, even if a vein of sadness soon threatened to warp her porcelain face.
"I-I was in Madrid," He said out of blue, stuttering just like it would happen whenever something was troubling him. "I was there with some colleagues and...I ate lot of paella, you know, it's a meal that consists-"
"I do know what a paella is. Jen can prepare an exquisite paella," Ruki firmly stated, totally forgetting about the pile of dishes she was struggling to hold.
His pitch black eyes shining at her statement also made her ignore Coronamon jumping on the cupboards to challenge Renamon's endless patience.
"C-Can he really make paella too?!" He exclaimed, bending in Ruki's stead to gather a bunch of glasses in his arms. "Like, h-he can prepare paella with scampi, shrimps, paprika too?!" He seemed to be counting the ingredients on his fingers that were almost shaking because of the excitement he had been dominated by. His pace had incredibly increased. "The squid is my favourite part. Ah, what about the mussels broth?! That's so tasty! I hate people not using bread to clean the dish. Screw good manners and just make your dish shine! I also hate those who eat paella without ordering sangria. I mean, what's a paella without a red flaming sangria?!"
He abruptly closed the dishwasher with a kick, his tanned cheeks blatantly flushed at the memory of how much paella he had surely tasted during his brief yet multiple stays in Spain. Now every glass and dish the Lees had used in the last days were on the table and were waiting to be put in the places of the kitchen they belonged to, but that wasn't Ruki and the Digimon's main concern as they all were staring at him, kinda astonished.
"Ah..." He brought some locks closer to his cheeks so he could hide his embarassment. "On the New Year's Eve I kinda e-exaggerated, I think. I was so sick I couldn't enjoy the dances and fireworks, so I think I'll stay far away from paella from now on..."
The silence extended for some more seconds, which sent his ears on fire and made his orbs aimlessly roaming in that room: why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut when he was at the Lees? So frustrating. He would always end up making a fool of himself whenever he told those people about his likes or dislikes, his passions, his travels, his dates...
"So you have made a vow? Won't you eat paella for the rest of your life?" Ruki finally asked, highlighting her fake seriousness with her hands on her hips. She slowly approached him cracking a smile she couldn't keep from becoming wider just like her eyes seemed to be becoming the closer she got to him.
"M-maybe it's too much for me to say for the rest of my life," He unwillingly gulped without a specific reason. "I think some months are enough, don't you think?"
She rapidly turned her back to him weirdly looking at her nails and ignoring Renamon pulling Coronamon's tail once more: she would have invited Coronamon to get out of the kitchen in not a very kind way, if she hadn't been engaged in teasing and playing with Yang.
"Some months, hm? This means no paella until this spring. What a pity."
Even if Yang couldn't notice it, now Ruki's grin was so wide it was pulling her smooth cheekbones higher. She sensed him curiously streching his neck near to her to understand what she was trying hiding from him or implying.
"Why are you saying it's a pity?" He bended his head, still standing behind the woman and waiting for her to face him. "Why?" He pressed and Ruki was doing her best not to burst in laughters: he sounded like a child asking his parents about the presents they had bought for his birthday; that similitude wasn't that far from that context, in truth.
"Because you know," She playfully pushed him back to the zone of the kitchen the oven was in. "Someone is turning twenty-two years old in a week and I thought he would be happy if..." She paused on purpose, letting him be cooked on the low heat of expectation. "If Jenrya made some paella for him at dinner. After all, this someone has been allowed to stay here for two weeks since he has been rejecting every opportunity to get vaction days for a year."
A glimpse sparkled in his eyes again like some thunders roaring in the most tenebrous sky that could be ever amired.
Still, it didn't last that long. He caressed the surface of the mirrored furniture against which his back was lying and melancholically smiled.
"Ah, don't worry about that too much. It's just an ordinary day I'll spend at home preparing my luggage. I won't really have time to celebrate it."
As he was speaking and looking at his reflection, Ruki wondered what kind of thoughts he was weaving in that intricated mind of his. He had so many feelings he couldn't just share with anyone, he had so many memories he couldn't tell anyone about, he had so many locks he himself didn't even know how to open.
She was so aware about how he was feeling because there had been a period in her life she had been so similar to him and there was no way people could help her get out of that vortex: they were so kind to her, offering her support and love, but the harsh truth was that people offering help in such an explicit way did make her more disaffected than ever.
People can't just understand sometimes opened kindness isn't the right answer, she reasoned. She herself hadn't completely healed yet and maybe it would never happen, but mere friendship and simple bonds with people she loved had surely helped coping with living with those wounds, indeed, with those scars.
Nevertheless, whenever they began hurting, there was no way for someone to help her; she would just need to stay alone or have someone joking around her, not making her feel worse with hugs or kisses.
Somehow her role as a mother tempted her to go against those strict convictions, though.
She realized it once more that day, when she would have liked to hold him tight without adding any words to that gesture. She would have just cradled him as long as he needed...But no, Yang didn't need any treatment like that: if he ever felt like talking, she would listen to him; if he wanted comfort, she would give him that. That wasn't the case, though. She just had to lighten his mood by keeping on mocking him.
"You really want to spend your birthday ironing shirts?" She raised her auburn-coloured eyebrows. "Aren't your services here enough for you? What about applying for a job as a butler?"
Needless to say he began laughing at once, remembering how many times other friends of his had proposed him that new carreer, after having heard him enthusiastically talking about how much fun he would have while doing chores at the Lees' household - but that was only because he was glad to be able to pay them back in that way-.
"If you have to prepare yourself to a long journey that day, we can still celebrate your birthday helping you do that," Ruki continued, glad it had been so easy to brighten his gloomy mood. "You do know our life is too short for us to spend our birthdays preparing lame suitcases all alone. We all wil help while Jen is cooking, of course."
He stopped laughing again and it wasn't because she had been extremely blunt to him. Everything was feeling so genuine and natural to him and it was...So wrong.
"Yang," She breathed, so tempted to tell him something, but she was interrupted by a sudden realization as her eyes lied on a violet box. "Renamon! That's Itsuki's bento box!"
The digital fox let Coronamon's tail go and its muzzle aimed to the solitary object that was sitting next to the kitchenette.
"Jen quickly cooked something for her and Daiki this morning. He was in a hurry so he didn't tell you," Renamon hypothesized, giving a glance to the clock and its lancets that were so near to lunch hour. "She will have lunch soon".
"And to think I have worked here today and I haven't noticed it once," Ruki sighed, touching her forehead. I was too focused on chatting with Yang".
"Sorry!" He felt like saying, letting himself be devoured by a sense of guilt that didn't have to be there.
"Ah ,Yang, you surely like getting punches on your nose," She sighed, patting his shoulder. "It's both my and Renamon's fault. However, since I can't really send Renamon to the ice rink on its own due to Itsuki and Daiki's coach's presence, I suppose we'll be out for a little while."
She was already heading for the living room, looking for her long jacket, but Yang predictably ran after her, following every movement of hers.
"Listen! Let me bring this to Itsuki. Jen-San is coming here soon and what he wants the most is to have lunch with you."
She shook her head, almost annoyed, which fairly scared Yang.
"He wants to have lunch with you too. Trust me, Jen will survive to having lunch a bit later than usual. Meanwhile just tell him about your favourite paella type."
He saw her putting her graceful jacket on and approaching the genkan. Renamon was ready to carry her and jump from a roof to the other to help Ruki skip thirty minutes of underground.
"No! No! Ruki-San, listen to me! I- I can't really have lunch with you two today because Kou has begged me to visit him as soon as I was feeling better. I haven't seen him and Ran since the beginning of December. I-I've," He scratched his head, a bit hesitant. "We have been making video calling for a month, it's true, but it's not equivalent to meeting them in real life. So, please, let me do this for you," He insisted, gently pulling her coat.
A long index of hers flew on his nose, pressing is as her suspicious orbs plumbed the depths of his thoughts.
"I-I would never lie to you," He honestly admitted, showing her a shy smile. "If I ever did that, I would never be able to look at myself in a mirror anymore."
She smiled back at him beckoning at Renamon to give him the box.
"Well, if this isn't an excuse just to avoid having lunch with us, then, can I get the promise you will have dinner with us?" She crossed her arms waiting for him to nod at that request of hers. He didn't only nod, in truth, but he stood at attention, aligning a hand with his forehead. "Is it how pilots make promises?" She joked and massaged his back to accompany him to the entrance.
"It's useless to ask Coronamon if it wants to join me in the snow," He was uncertain while looking back at the kitchen.
"While you weren't here, it spent its days attached to the heater," Renamon informed him. "Jen was the only one who could make it part from there without being scratched or burned".
"Sor-" He was saying that again, feeling so ashamed because of the behaviour of his Digimon. Who knew if it had bothered them in other occasions!, he mentally slapped himself while putting his jacket and boots on. Fortunately Ruki cut him short - she didn't want to hear another sorry that day! - by tying a scarf around his neck and making a hat slip on his head.
"You can't really think to go out without a scarf and a hat after having got a cold, you stupid," She scolded him, increasing his embarassment even more. "These are Jen's. I know, the scarf is too elegant for your taste but you asked me to lend you his old montgomery some days ago...Wasn't that too big ?"
He froze in a flash, his gloved hands holding onto the doorknob.
"Jen asked me if you have developed some fancy taste in dressing when I told him about that. Still I crashed his dreams in thousand pieces because you would never wear such a sophisticated coat. I suppose you had some special party to attend or some...Date that requested a specific dress-code?"
She winked at him, which only made him feel worse than ever: he couldn't lie to her! He couldn't and he had just sworn it in front of her.
"I...I..." He stammered, starting shaking and feeling disgrace filling his being. He could have just run away; the elevator was already there after all, but he loved her and Jenrya a lot. They had given him so much and he couldn't really pay them by being so disrespectful to them. Therefore he took courage and attempted to handle it properly, "I don't feel like telling you about this now, but I promise-"
"Oh, Yang, don't look at me like that. I don't want to invade your private life, silly!" She chuckled as his expression was very hilarious, in her opinion. It was very entertaining to poke him and studying his comic reactions. "I just hope she liked you in that style. Personally I'm struggling to envision you like that. Did you use too much gel in your hair like Jen does?"
He stood still, forcing himself not to laugh for the nth time that day. Replying to her would mean saying a lie, which wasn't what he absolutely wanted.
That's the reason why he let himself spat a soft chuckle as an answer before getting out of the apartment.
There was a family who was waiting for the elevator to arrive again. The two adults were dealing with the youngest daughter's whims and tears: she was begging them to let her go back so she could take another teddy bear with her.
He remained next to the Lee's apartment door and Ruki's head peeking from it. She seemed so absorbed into that scene, not even wincing at the girl eventually shouting at her brother and crying even more.
"Y-you never stop having fun with a family like that, I guess," Yang sarcastically whispered boggling at the mother pulling the kid into the elevator. He did notice Ruki wasn't acting like herself at all and expressed his concern by silently refusing to go away.
"Are you okay?" He breathed and his worried words reached her ears despite the big ruckus the family was still making.
Ruki suddenly shook her head making some front hair of hers falling on her eyes.
"So, will you come back?" She questioned again, that time her voice was laced with a shade of doubt.
"Sure, I-I always keep my promises," He grinned at her, determined and satisfied about the fact he could finally enter the elevator.
It strangely felt like the world had turned upside-down for the fragment of a moment.
XXX
"W-why, why am I here?! Why in the world would I come he-here?!"
His body was taken over by a series of shivers that didn't calm down even when he hid his mouth behind the scarf and pulled the hat down on his orbs and nose.
Oh, how much he hated winter! There was nothing he hated more than winter.
No wait, maybe there's something else too, he told himself looking at the familiar surroundings.
"I've changed my mind. There's nothing worse than walking in the snow a-and enter a freezing building like this!"
Whenever he had to spend some nights in the glacial , he would run through its streets as fast as he could to get into some inn and warm up in front of a glass of vodka. He had come to perfectly understanding the reason why Russian drank ton of it.
He brought himself to move forward, feeling like his cold was coming back when he realized his hands and feet had almost lost their sensitivity despite the warm gloves and thick socks he was wearing.
"And to think I wanted to go out only wearing this!" He commented pointing at his leather aviator with contempt. "Ruki is right to call me idiot."
He got close to a big door he attempted to push without success. He could already spot Itsuki and Daiki dancing together on the ice through those clouded glasses, but he just couldn't access to the wide hall from there.
"Why?!" He would have liked to add curses to that simple word, but the condensation coming out of his mouth reminded him he had been in his bed for days and it wasn't opportune for him to risk losing his voice due to that place.
He had to embrace the imminent ascent he was about to begin, although his still weak and aching legs were already complaining about it.
Actually, when he got to the end of that torture, he felt his muscles painfully pulsing just like his head.
Nevertheless the alien sight his black eyes met after a second made him forget about the remaining effects of his last annoying fever. Shinjuku's ice rink was empty, there was no one sitting or cheering for the skating couple in its center; there were only the spectral plastic seats admiring the beautiful steps the two young adults were performing at he rhythm of some catchy song Yang had never heard before.
Descending the stairs, he abandoned himself to the magic of those graceful movements like he would always do as a kid. Surely, he wished they could have been colouring some classical symphony with their spins and jumps, but he found that coreography and its musical background very pleasant and relaxing.
Since he would have never interrupted them during their strenuous training, he decided to sit down on the first seat that was the nearest to him, without looking what he was doing...Which had been a big mistake.
A sharp pain violently possessed his arm, making him flinch and leap: he did his best to suppress a shout.
"A b-bug?!" He stammered, rubbing the hurting spot his limb.
"I'm not a bug!" He heard and another pang shot out of his leg, this time compelling him to kneel in sufferance.
That was how he found himself facing a beak that had familiar features to him and brought him back to a peaceful day spent among babies Digimon needing affection.
It was a Hawkmon, a very irritated one that was looking at him with hatred. He didn't find words to describe his wonder at the sight of a Digimon in that ice rink, so he merely reached out to pet it.
"Were you the one hitting me?" He asked, intending to find out what had bothered the Digimon that much. Perhaps it was sleeping under the chair and I stepped in its tail, he considered.
Still it didn't let itself be approached. Instead, it frantically flew under the back of someone sitting on the floor that was under the chair. Yang hadn't spotted the figure before because of their huddled pose that made them smaller than what they were in truth.
He held still, almost in awe, observing that girl and her exotic features, starting from her deep dark skin and the patricular hair that was spourting from a cap that couldn't contain every curl of hers.
She is blatantly freezing, he mumbled to himself, swearing he could see frail chills shaking her little body. After all she was wearing a red and white sweater that didn't look that warm or warm enough for that place.
What would Jen-San and Ruki-San say if I lent her this scarf ?, He thought, quietly crawling to her and putting the scarf on the floor hoping she would see it.
She was so enchanted by what was happening in the ice rink and she didn't seem to care about the polar temperature of her surroundings.
"H-hey," He waved a hand so she could acknowledge his presence. "That's-"
"A scarf. I know what a stupid scarf is."
He clammed up, blinking while entering in real contact with the girl for the first time. She turned to him wearing an irked expression that made her features crack the more she looked at him. He hadn't noticed she had a lollipop in her mouth too.
"Who are ya?" She grumpily spatted after having inspected him from head to toe. "Another weirdo who has come here to spy on the athletes, for sure." Then she focused on the sleeve of his coat and on its little hole, and she smirked with malice, almost being on the verge of laughters. "So it can do something useful sometimes."
"Is that Digimon yours?" He lifted his chin to point at the digital bird hiding behind her. It was a pretty dumb question, in truth, but, if she really had some Digimon, then she should be a Tamer like him.
"Ye', it's mine but I don't want it to fly'round me because it annoys me. I didn't want it to come here either but it followed me. I'm tryin' ignoring its presence in the best way I can. Still...," Her eyes, which were so similar to his, lied on Itsuki and Daiki's dance for some seconds. "Itsuki Lee has got a Digimon too, so I can be happy about sharin' something with her. I'm as special as her, but ya don't even know what a Digimon is, so why am I talking to ya?"
Was she...Trying talking like Itsuki?, He opened his mouth at that possibility, but that wasn't what mattered the most to him at that moment.
"Are you their coach's daughter?" He changed the topic of the conversation because he wanted to know what that girl was doing there.
"No! I'm nobody's daughter. I'm the only owner of myself, I would never let some lame adult like ya and the other Hypnos adults own me. Never!"
She growled at him, abruptly standing up and fighting not to tremble. Her jeans were soaking wet and her peeved voice was beginning unwillingly faltering.
"Wait, do you know Hypnos?" He continued with his interrogation.
"Sure I do! I know Hypnos and windbag Jenrya Lee. Ya must have seen him on some newspaper. He's the most borin' adult y'could ever meet".
He had missed so much in a month. A new Tamer? Who had paid for that Hawkmon? Was it possible...Fate had given her that Digimon like it had happened to him and his friends? She had stated she wasn't owned by anyone, but his fantasy was running wild at that moment and a scenario in which she was some rich man's daughter she had come to despise wasn't that unlikely to him. She could have run away from home, taking into account her aggressive behaviour.
He became that vicious back when he had the wonderful idea of running away from home, thinking everyone was some cop who was ready to take him back home.
"L-look, I'm not a policeman," He eventually gave a voice to his inner reasoning. "I'm just surprised you have got a Digimon, that's it. You also know Jenrya Lee, which made me even more surprised. Anyway, you can let your guard down with me. I'm just here to bring Itsuki her lunch, that's all. You and me have randomly met here."
She studied him, switching from a mood to the other; confusion, bewilderment, suspect: those were the emotions he could read on her traits.
"Who the hell are ya, then?" She groaned, her black eyes widened. "Are ya Itsuki Lee's brother?"
He furiously blushed at her question, the coat and the hat became flames on his body and he felt the urge to get freed of them, listening to the drums of his heart making an unbearable noise in his ears.
Ah, he hated those reactions of his.
"It must be such a big pain to have Jenrya Lee as your old man. Somehow I can also pity ya: it's not your fault if y're so annoying to me. The genes ya carry can't be changed".
Again. She was making him feel badly again with those words. He had been using those for his whole life and now she was nonchalantly pronouncing them while standing close to him.
Who in the world is this girl?, He couldn't help repeating to himself, squaring her silhouette being aimed to the rink and the last steps of the coreography. The final toe loop was a kind of signal for her to get out of there.
"I need to go now, as soon as possible," She announced, crumpling the scarf and throwing it against him. "I can smell Jenrya Lee's shower gel and perfume on this. It's okay if ya use your old man's body care stuff but don't ever think to give me something that's related to him ever again."
She escaped as fast as a leopard, skillfully jumping from a high stair to the other one without tripping once. On the other hand, Hawkmon had just flown away, expoloting an opened window of the roof's.
Why do people dislike Jen-San?, He scratched his bearded chin, petrified in the world of his steam of consciousness. It's not like a person will certainly be evil and spoiled if he has got such an important secret company. Jen-San is strict, sure, who could deny it ? He has got his own quirks, but who hasn't quirks nowadays?
He kept on mentally babbling, recalling good memories he had shared with that man in the past; they mostly consisted in playing some videogame with him, but there were also ones featuring the two going to the mall together, the man teaching him how to recognize quality food, Yang's teen self begging him to stop by a game stop together.
However people tended to judge others before getting to know them and their most precious qualities. It was unfair, just like those ones having prejudices about him due to his impenetrable orbs.
Breaking free from that labyrinth, he trotted down to the ice rink, greeting the couple who were sharing a bottle of some energetic drink.
"Y-you've got a mail," He dared to joke, passing the pack to the young woman who blithely gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you for having brought us lunch!" Daiki exclaimed, opening the box and already feeling the level of his hunger raising. "We were about to leave to order something from one of the stands that's around the fountain.
"Of course, I prefer eating Daddy's bento," Itsuki chirped, already holding her chopsticks to dive in the rice. "Do ya want to have lunch with us, Yang-Chan? We missed ya a lot!" She grinned, bringing an octopus close to his nose.
"Yes, Yang! Join us! The coach will be nowehere to be seen for a long time, so he won't bother us throughout the whole lunch time. I have got so much to ask you about! How do pilots celebrate New Year's Eve? Is it every year a new experience?"
No, he wouldn't stay there any longer because of so many reasons he couldn't even fully track (one of them was surely connected with his non-existent love for cold). He would have liked to accept their invitation, but he could feel a clench that was making his heart choke.
It wasn't right, was it? It wasn't absolutely right to feel that warmth and that irrepressible desire, to feel so wanted by two people that were so kind.
Yet...
"Yang-Chan, I promise," Itsuki crossed her fingers, kissing them. "The octopus is all yours".
"I promise too, also because I hate octopus," Daiki mimicked Itsuki too, waiting for him to give up to persuasion.
"B-but Jen-San made this bento for two people, not for three people!" He tried looking for an excuse.
However his destiny had already been written in the ice of the rink. Daiki lifted the box and inclined it, ironically displaying the enormous quantity of rice and fish there was into it.
"C'mon, Yang-Chan, don't pretend not to know Daddy always exaggerates when it comes to food!"
XXX
He got out of the underground in a satisfied mood, recalling the tasty meal he had had and the lovely chat he had shared with Itsuki and Daiki: it had been a very silly and varied conversation about the weather, Lunamon's costant dreams about them getting married, the flowers that had grown in the garden that's below Daiki's apartment. He used to hate those kinds of topics owning no consistency and deep meanings. Now they would make him so joyful, letting him appreciate staying with people so much more.
But returning to my lunch...It could have fed so many starving kitties, he licked his lips before sadly recalling some little cats in a destroyed box meowing at him.
As if he could have taken all of them home! His landlord would have had a lot to say about keeping so many cats in his apartment. Nevertheless nothing was keeping him from looking for some good-hearted people who could give a kitten the love it deserved.
The family it deserved.
He brusquely stopped in a street he knew very well, coughing and wondering how he had ended up there so quickly. It wasn't that nice for him to find himself standing there, so near to a jovial and crowded building.
"Maybe, just maybe..." He narrowed his orbs to spot a certain someone helping his parents. What if he was there, though? It wasn't like he would welcome him with open arms. Whenever they met they would have arguments over arguments and...It was so tiring. Not to talk about when he, Itsuki and Makoto had to attend to some Hypnos party together. Their friendship had become as frozen as the snow that was covering Shinjuku.
It was true, Itsuki didn't seem to be that mad at him despite what he had done to her the summer before, but their relationship as Digimon Tamers partners had drastically faded.
Their Digivices couldn't even support each other anymore, almost becoming one and giving Makoto and Spadamon the energy they needed to compensate the fact the digital blue lion couldn't digievolve like Coronamon and Lunamon.
Those were times that were lost in the meanders of his recollections' oblivion.
A huge red head made the ring that was attached to the entrance door jingling. The creature looked up at Yang and began waggling like some sort of dog, its mouth wide open and its pointed teeth on show.
"Yang is here!" Guilmon happily nuzzled against his jeans and joyfully shook the loaf of bread it was holding. "Yang wants bread," It continued and the young man kneeled again to pet it, caressing its head and long tail.
He hadn't cuddled Guilmon for a while, maybe for a year, judging from how excited the Digimon had got at his sight.
"Guilmon, I-I missed you too," He hugged it and eventually fell on the ice, keeping on laughing because of the fact Guilmon just didn't want to stop sniffing him.
It was predictable someone would rush out of the bakery to check what was happening and he got terrorized at the possibility to meet Makoto. He coped with the attempt to stand up on the ice not miserably falling for the second time, and hastily grabbed Guilmon's bread.
He ran away as fast as he could without even saying goodbye to the puzzled Digimon, not knowing the one who had decided to come out of the bakery was Takato; the man would have been so moved to see him again after such a long time, but Yang would never get to know about the identity of the person he had escaped from.
"That-that was a close call," He breathed heavily, so scared of what was going to happen. He didn't want to hear Makoto scolding him or complaining about every constituent part of his being.
"You have been neglecting role as a Hypnos agent lately; you have been smoking and drinking too much ; you could have celebrated New Year's Eve with us, Christmas too and blah bah blah..." He had fun playing Makoto's caricature, whispering not to draw passers-by's attention. It was just too frustrating to be scolded by someone who thought he could act like if it was your father.
"Lame adult", He pulled his tongue out while walking below the skeletal trees of Shinjuku Park. Wasn't that what the girl had called adults? Lame, boring, tedious.
If Jen-San is so unpleasant, in her opinion, she should just meet Makoto, He reasoned, amused.
"Finally the most chaotic library of the world is here...," He spread his arms, content, as if he would have liked to hug that building. He just had to cross a long route that led to one of the many exits of the park and he would be there.
He was looking forward to listening to Kou's tales about the way he had screwed his football club's mates' New Year's Eve. Had he thrown up on someone's shirt? On a woman's? Had he ended up in a brawl like always?
He was really eager to know: Kou's naive troubles were what he had been craving for since he had arrived in Shjnjuku.
He threw himself against the wood door, hyped, and he sneezed repeatedly on the threshold.
However his nose wasn't annoyed by the usual tickling dust Kou and his large fanily had to deal with everyday. No, that smell was more pregnant and intense.
"Wh-Why, why is this place stinking of coffee?" He brought himself to mutter, pinching his nose and curiously picking a white sign.
"Buddy, no!" He couldn't hold the cartel for even two seconds, as Kou had already taken it out of his hands. "This fucking library is closed for now. Closed!"
Kou hung the cartel on the entrance door and rashly closed the door, a sigh of relief calming him down.
"Wow, what is going here?" Yang blinked, dumbstruck, really believing Kou wouldn't hug him very tightly, his strong body being about to crash him.
"Oh, Yang, I missed you so much. You can't just help falling ill every damn winter." Kou parted from him still keeping his hands on his shoulders to yank Yang and make him experience a sort of earthquake. "Look at you! You are so thin next Halloween you won't need any costume, you're scaring me, dude. That's the reason why you are always making me worried sick because of your endless flu. Back when we lived together, I could had a major control on your health shit!"
He literally jumped over the main counter of the library and lifted a heavy box of apples.
"Oh-Oh Lord, Kou, what the hell has happened here...? Look at this".
He was pointing at a bunch of books that had many dark stains on their pages. The whole table was a complete mess too, with the same spots wallpapering its surface.
"Oh well, ask Herissmon about what it did while I was out for a while."
Yang looked for Herissmon with the gaze and found the Digimon in a dog bed.
"So," Kou threw an apple to him while talking to his partner. "Why don't you tell Yang about your poor friend coming home and finding the whole library full of coffee stains? Don't forget Yang pilots planes! So don't be shy and tell him how in the world my poor coffee machine took flight!"
The digital hedgehog walked to them in small steps and lowering its spiked head.
"I didn't do it on purpose," Its blue eyes swelled of tears. "I just wanted to play with the ball and try a special move. Still I've spinned too much and-"
"And that's the reason why my poor pedagogy books can't be read anymore and our library is closed. It's not necessary to tell you Grandpa doesn't know anything about this because fortunately he's not in Tokyo, so I was strangely lucky this time." He took another apple from the box, making his honey-coloured eyes roll. "I'm despaired, Yang. How will I be able to buy other books in time!?"
A gust of wind started blowing on the table, making the pages of every book fluttering like chained butterflies.
"You should really shut up or I swear, I swear...!" Ran shifted a hairdryer from a side to the other, glaring at Kou in a terrifying way.
Kou's younger brother, Akihito, was next to her, smiling sheepishly. They all had appeared from nowhere at once, Yang winced reaching out to pat the blonde boy's head.
"Have you seen the mess Kou has done? Atsuko will kick his butt soon" Akihito sniggered, enjoying himself keeping the pages of the book in the air.
"Ah, see? Your brother is so clever, I have never had doubts about this," Ran angrily commented, placing the hairdryer in the middle schooler's hand and rotating around the counter so she could pick the poor Herissmon up. "Nobody would blame Herissmon in this story because that coffee machine wasn't supposed to be there!"
She glared at Yang too, holding Herissimon against her chest like if it was a baby.
"You intend to defend him, of course," She didn't greet him just like he wanted. She was already miffed at him too...Even if he hadn't done anything.
"W-wait, Ran, were those books yours?"
"Yes, some of them were mine. Today I wanted some quiet place to study and I had the wonderful idea of coming here! And that's the result!"
"Still you should be glad we are on the same boat together," Kou raised his arms and hid them behind his head. "I'm frankly happy we are because now I share a bunch of books that look like cows with you."
She abruptly passed Herissmon in Yang's arms and went back to the other side of the desk to give her anger satisfaction.
Akihito was watching them having an argument, amused, while he was using the hairdryer more to play than to try rescuing some pages like Ran intended to do.
"I don't think you are on the same boat, though," The blonde elementary school student commented. "Ran has underwined and highwighted the whole book, while my brother's books look new."
"So Kou has really nothing to complain about!" Ran shouted at a terrorized Kou who was about to throw himself on the floor and bend for hundred times -at least-. Considering Yang and Kou's experience about coping with a mad Ran, they were aware that day messing with her could mean death.
"It's-It's not my fault if I'm a busy boy!" Kou stuttered revealing his usual cowardice, groaning at Akihito who apparently loved making his life a hell. "Yang knows well my complex routine, Ran, you should pity me! Every morning I wake up at five to go jogging with Herissmon, -yeah, it follows me by jumping on a tree to the other; it's not jogging, but...Whatever!-. Then I practise at dribbling, have a shower, go to university-"
"Skipping classes to go to that lame sports book that's near to the football pitch," Ran interrupted him, her trembling eyebrows didn't promise nothing good. "After that? Let me continue speaking about your routine in your stead. Then you meet some friend of yours and you remain at the football pitch for the whole day, completely forgetting about university and your duty as a student. The end."
"You've skipped the best part in which we all go to the pub to drink beer, though." Kou ingenuously corrected her and now both Akihito and Yang were sniggering together making Herissmon and Kou extremely puzzled. Indeed, Kou eventually fell in an ashamed silence wearing a puppy-dog-like expression and blushing furiously. Nobody could understand how stressing his life was: he would cry whenever his favourite team lost a match -it wasn't rare-, he would end up in desparation whenever he lost a bet -he had surely wasted lot of money, Ran knew that and she also knew Yang would too often tag along with him-, he would struggle to sleep whenever his dinner wasn't as fabulous and tasty as it was supposed to be; not to talk about whenever Herissmon forced him to buy a new ball almost every week due to its spikes...Or whenever he spotted Ran with some other attractive man and weeped during his lessons.
Kou's life was a steep mountain to climb, he was certain about that, but nobody wanted to reach out to him. He could only flidder with his fingers, hoping Ran would forgive him sooner than soon.
Now she seemed to be finally paying attention to Yang, who was quite upset she was the only one who hadn't told him she had missed him a lot.
"Where's Coronamon?" That was what she asked him, after having deeply sighed at the nth sight of her books and the floor -why wasn't anybody talking about how urgently they needed a mop?!-.
"Believe me but i-it has preferred a heater to you," He shrugged, mocking her with a smirk that was so unusual for a quiet type like him.
"And to you too. It preferred a heater to its Tamer," She argued, because he was so terrible at teasing. He would always dig his own grave whenever he attempted to do that. Instead, she was the princess of teasing people, especially at teasing those two, but, if she had to be honest to herself, what would entertain her the most was to play with Yang and making him upset, which was what would always happen despite the fact he had a strong bond with Ruki, the supreme queen of teasing -Ran had to admit that in spite of herself-.
She suddenly made her mouth curve downwards and she frowned.
"What-What is it?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"It's only that I haven't seen Coronamon for so much time. It's not like I can go visiting Itsuki's parents without an excuse. So, I was hoping the baby would be along with you today, as I'm looking forward to pampering it with love," Herissmon jumped in her arms again at that statement and she rubbed its belly making it laugh. Kou was be the one who would usually do that to his Digimon, but he was too focused on feeling like a kid that had just been punished. Life.
She gave a glance to Yang with the corner of her eye, inspecting every trait of his that could convey a sense of jelousy to her.
Aw, he's already boiling, she was going to burst in laughters in no time since it was too easy to get a similar reaction from him. He had so many childish sides but that one was the funniest to her: he was an attention seeker kid at heart.
"Oh, you k-know, we haven't seen each other for a while too," He huffed and crossed his arms, while Akihito was enjoying their interactions. "Spain and other countries I was sent to are quite far."
"But we did so many video callings," She kept on going with her play-acting. "Look, Yang, it's not like the prodigal son has come home; you arriving means I have another dork I'll have to keep at bay. Nothing-"
There was she, bursting into vigorous laughters and failing miserably at carrying on her plan due to Yang blatantly pouting.
"Oh My, look at you," She almost choked while saying that, but she eventually brought herself to warmly smile at him and hug him, her arms behind his neck and her hoop earrings sweetly swinging back and forth.
She didn't really need to tell him she had missed him dearly as her diamond shining eyes were mirroring so many lovely emotions he held her against him again.
When the two parted, Ran sneered, slightly resigned, before returning to Kou who was now absently munching an apple along with Herissmon.
"But, you know ," She sighed with affection, slowly and tenderly hugging Kou from behind. "I have been staving off a couple of dorks since I was twelve and somehow I've eventually come to love this job I was given...Even when they cover my books in dirt just to give a plug a reason to exist," She added while brushing her cheeks on Kou's light brown hair that had darkened just like hers as the time passed by.
"I l-like it when you talk about Kou's trouble as if I have been his accomplice," Yang joked, turning his head from a side to the other. "Speaking about accomplices, where is Chloe?"
"Yes, where is she? I wanted to co-comb her fur," Akihito's chirping followed, gently tugging on Ran's brown turtleneck to make her notice a blue brush that was on a sofa.
"Oh my Dear, she would have surely appreciated, but she can't just stand entering places that could jeopardise the candor of its fur. She is with Miho now...Nevertheless" She reached out to feel Yang's scarf. "She would have liked this scarf so much, I swear."
"So it's Yang's fault if it has been so cold lately. He's wearing a gentleman-like scarf he would have never worn a year ago! Man, Yang, may you decide to wear a suit and tie next Sunday, so Goto will face so many difficulties during the match!"
They all stopped talking for some seconds, until Yang cleared Kou's confusion about that glacial atmosphere.
"Kou...Don't we always bet on Goto's team...?" He asked, mimicking Herissmon's perplexed expression.
The young man turned pail, losing the healthy red tone his cheeks and nose usually had, and Ran and Yang laughed heartily at that exaggerated reaction that quickly disappeared to let Kou join their fun too.
Akihito picked the brush up and cracked a smile, before going in some secluded room of the library in which he could do his homework in peace. He found himself being so enchanted by that genuine trio.
"They have lots of arguments, they might even growl at the other like beasts, but they'll always make up and find harmony again. They're just like a falimy, ehm, family!"
Yang did hear him.
XXX
It had been a pleasant day, he couldn't help but thinking. Surely, his back was aching a bit because he had helped his friends clean a whole library, as they had discovered Herissmon had left coffee prints almost everywhere, but he was feeling in peace with himself.
He had also been tempted to call Naomi to ask her how her parisian conservatory life was proceeding: she was the only missing tile to the beautiful puzzle of that day, for sure. Still he didn't manage to find the courage to do that.
Seeing him so content and satisfied, Jenrya and Ruki smiled at each other, not hiding they were very surprised because of his appetite. Itsuki was kinda astonished too, her chopsticks in the air as he joyfully ate his third onigiri.
"Hopefully, he will put on some weight in these weeks," The man said, proud of seeing his onigiri being so appreciated by his Digimon and Yang. "It seems like he has been starving for months."
"Yeah, but then he'll leave again and we will find him thinner than ever once more when he comes back," Ruki shook her head, sarcastic. "You should see how many holes his belts have got."
"It-it's just because belts and trousers are so large nowadays," Yang timidly explained, looking for Itsuki's support with his gaze. He had forgot Itsuki was used to wearing tight leggings; belts were just an accessory she would wear to enchance her outfits. "Ehm...Ah, I wanted to ask Jen-San about something."
"Yeah, change topic, Yang," Both Itsuki and Ruki said in chorus, even if Ruki was curious about what he wanted to talk about with Jen.
"He wants to ask you if you can prepare paella for his birthday," Ruki winked at her husband, rubbing her hands in anticipation.
"No, no, no! This-This is so wrong!" He gulped noisely, tentatively reaching out to grab the pitcher of water although he didn't really need more water in his glass.
"I just wanted to talk about a girl I met at the ice rink. Not a random girl, absolutely not! She owned a Hawkmon."
"He's talking about Shun-Chan, Daddy!" Itsuki exclaimed, the teenage girl's silhouette materialized in her mind immediately. "Was she at the ice rink? Really?"
"Yeah, but...I wasn't supposed to tell you about that," Yang was mentally cursing and slapping himself on his head at the realization he had spoiled the girl's secret without wanting to. "So who is she? Is she some new daddy's girl who has received a training course as a Hypnos Tear Jumper?"
When he saw Ruki standing up from the table, he rushed to help her beckoning at Itsuki and Jenrya to make them understand they could sit still. On the other hand Jenrya seemed pensive, staring at the ceiling and scratching Terriermon's ears as if he was struggling to reply to Yang.
"Well, the problem is that we don't know who she is, either. She refuses to tell us about that too and, if we insist, she'll get aggressive".
"Oh Daddy, I just believe ya all are scaring her with your interrogations. Shun has been nice to me since I met her for the first time. She likes playing with Lunamon a lot," She waited for the sleepy Digimon to slowly climb on her thighs.
"Shun seems a lonely girl," The digital rabbit sadly expressed its opinion. "She doesn't like staying along with other people or Digimon so much, but she seems to like my gown, so she was drawn by me and Itsuki, I think. Still she has got a dark night in her soul."
His daughter and her partner's opinions were interesting, Jenrya considered, but there were too many holes in that matter he needed to investigate about.
"So did you talk to her too, Yang?" He turned to the young man who was helping Ruki load the dishwasher for the third time that day.
"Yeah...I-It was an intense conversation about how much she hates adults. She didn't even tell me her name, now that I think about it. She...Was freezing there."
Jenrya dived into his thought again, focusing on their white ceiling and the sleeping Terriermon's breath.
"So what we only know about her is that she weirdly gets along with Itsuki and Lunamon and that she hates adults. As far as concerns Hawkmon, we only know it landed on Earth through a Digi-Tear we detected at the beginning of December. It's a small Digimon but we still had the duty to track it. That's how we got to Shun who already had a Digivice when we found and took her to Hypnos."
"This means this girl got her Digimon because of Fate's will just like it decided for us and Itsuki and Yang's friends. Something similar hadn't happened since Kou got Herissmon, so we're talking about so many years, incredible," Ruki concluded in awe and gave voice to those thoughts Jen hadn't included in his calm speech.
However Jen didn't want to talk about work with his family. That situation was already pretty stressful along with other matters that were related to Hypnos. No, he would have liked to have an idle chat with them just like the one they were having before: thousand ways to cuddle your Digimon after a fight to help it relax; it was the Hypnos monthly magazine article Itsuki had found the most interesting.
Therefore, he awkwardly grinned at Yang, moving not that much not to wake Terriermon up.
"So, let's talk about this paella a bit."
XXX
Talking about cuddles, night was often the right period of the day for the Lees to share some heartwarming moments with their Digimon.
Jen and Itsuki were testing a new photo modifying app on the snoring Terriermon, adding silly effects to its body and turning it into a sort of snowman. Lunamon would get too upset at a similar prank, so it was enough for it to lie down on Itsuki's legs and feel her fingers on its head.
Ruki was sitting on Jen's favourite armchair, absently stroking Renamon's neck's vaporous fur and occasionally closing her violet eyes.
As far as concerns Yang...He was nowhere to be seen, even though she had intentionally chosen a channel that was airing a baseball match so he could watch it until the end and could have never refused to stay and sleep there. After all, the second guest room was rarely used and Ruki liked thinking it had become his own bedoroom...He just had to ignore the door that connected it to the other one that was reserved to Shaochung's visits.
A bit drowsy, Ruki stood up to go looking for him, even if she already knew where he was. Actually it was enough for her to open the curtains of their living room to spot a faint orange light burning like some sort of bonfire. Opening the sliding door too and closing it quickly not to let the winter cold enter their house, she found him on the floor with his legs crossed and Coronamon in their middle.
He had always been near to them, she considered sitting next to him and feeling her goosebumps disappearing thanks to Coronamon's warm flame.
"You two are finally together," She began, touching Coronamon's boiling fur. "It surely missed you a lot. You should have seen it when you fell ill and Jen announced you couldn't take it back home. What would it have thought if we had told it you fell ill after a romantic date below the snow?" She nudged at him, laughing but she didn't make him do the same.
She stared at his blank expression that could have been interpreted in so many ways and instinctively kept her hand on his shoulder, feeling him taking a deep breath: he was opening up to her, she could perceive it.
"I have a question too," His words were concise and firm. She could notice he was trying his best to keep every emotion of his out of that confession. "W-what would you think if I told you I borrowed that montgomery to hide my uniform?"
"I can't understand, Yang. What do you mean?"
"Before...Leaving in November, I received a postcard that was adressed to my sister. This woman thought she still lived there and she wanted to greet Shaoyu from Europe and ask her when the kid would be born. I didn't know she was pregnant, I could have never known, but I wanted to give her some flowers so..." His muscles tensed at that memory that had to be revealed to the woman sooner or later. "So I visited her and I hid my uniform under Jen's coat and I don't even know w-what kind of stupid idea that was. The dumbest belief I could ever get. I-I just wanted not to look like my father and be spotted, but I made shit like always. I forgot he used to wear montgomeries too and then...Then..."
"Then you decided to take the coat off and that's how you fell ill."
Ruki had learnt his behavorial patterns very well and she could imagine him standing still in the snow, putting off his uniform too and crying out of frustration.
He looked agape at her hypothesis, so she understood she had hit the mark. Therefore she continued with her realistic speculation. "But your main concern is about us, right? You don't mind to have probably been spotted by them. You are ashamed due to the fact you have borrowed that coat to do this. Well, Yang, let me give you a good news: you could have even stomped on that coat, we wouldn't have cared about that stupid piece of cloth, I assure you. Still we care about you, that's what I want to make you understand and I would even open your head with my bare hands to make this concept enter your soul." She sincerely smiled at him, pushing him to raise his head. "We love you, you only need to know this. We all love you and you have no right to carry this heavy burden all alone."
It seemed Coronamon's flame had become smaller but stronger, making him feel like warmth was radiating every part of his being as he recalled about that day and the important place every person he had spent some time with occupied in his heart.
He closed his eyes hearing the increasing beat of his vivacious heart and said what he had never told anyone in his life, not even stuttering.
"I love you all too," He joyfully whispered, and, when a moved Ruki found herself cradling him in her arms, she wondered if that happy young man that had smiled at her for that brief second was the real Yang everyone would help her fully get out of the chords of his heart