Within a cosmic vastness, locked outside the realms of Digital and Analogue, contained a single prisoner. The void produced no sound, and the dimensional door has never opened. Solitude leaves only thoughts as company and voice as the only sound. For the lone inhabitant, all time spent trapped within the confined infinite has given way to the repeating daydream of revenge against those who locked it inside this wretched realm. Plotting scenario after scenario, scheming battle upon battle, every possible way to annihilate enemies crossed their mind. Yet the prisoner remains without a solution. Without one means of escape, this digimon would spend forever in isolated contemplation.
But there was something new to contemplate: the first new sound. It was like a pop, yet it also echoed a chime. Was it imagined? An illusion of a failing mind?
"Incredible…," came a new voice. "You're-"
A metallic claw on the end of a double helix chain swiftly clasped around the intruder, preventing all movement.
"How did you enter this prison?" It spoke with a raspy voice
"I am Parallelmon," the intruder spoke. "I developed the ability to jump across dimensional walls."
Refusing to let this opportunity pass, the prisoner conjured the dark energy of the dimension around them and projected it into the consciousness of Parallelmon. Sensations of dread and grief overwhelmed the sanity of Parallelmon. They willed the energy deeper into Parallelmon's psyche, burrowing as deep as possible to ensure success as Parallelmon yelled in agony.
"Apologies for the unattractive salutation. Understand my trepidation of your hasty exit," said the prisoner, do their best to replicate sympathy.
Parallelmon huffed, trying to recover from the forced psychic intrusion that left him physically weakened. "Is this what it is like to live in this place?"
Sounds of bubbling oil and mechanical whirring echoed inside the prisoner's polyhedron body. Near the top, a compartment opened and a Tsukaimon bounced down the extended arm, making way to Parallelmon.
"Absorb this data on the condition to answer my questions," declared the raspy voice.
"Absorbing the data of another digimon has been prohibited in the Digital World since the time of your imprisonment. However-". Parallelmon looked into the vacant, soulless eyes of the Tsukaimon. "-that has yet to stop me. Absorbent Bang!"
A fanged tendril fired from Parallelmon's single eye and pierced Tsukaimon's head, vaporizing the small digimon into a cloud of data particles. Parallelmon allowed his body to take in the particles; glowing faintly as the data coursed through its body.
The metallic claw released Parallelmon and retracted to its host.
"How did you obtain your power?" the prisoner asked.
"In the Ancient Digital World, digimon were allowed to become anything they wanted," Parallelmon said. "Digivolution, abilities, even becoming a god was dependent only on determination. Now our trees are set in stone. The first Musyamon was a travelling swordsman that used mystic trickery when fighting. Realizing that justice wore many faces, Musyamon empowered itself with the faith of his kin, and became the first Asuramon. He digivolved once more into Zanbamon before Death claimed him. The ancient digimon had the freedom to create their next forms."
"Freedom…" The raspy voice spoke the word with such longing. Sorrow permeated throughout the tense atmosphere.
"When I digivolved into Asuramon, I was not glorified as the hero like the original was," Parallelmon continued. "I simply became another copy. The scholars of Witchelny taught me how to make pocket dimensions. After many years of practice, I developed the technique to jump over the dimensional walls. I want to breach every border, peek into every dimension, and be a god to those without one!"
If not for the distance between them, Parallelmon would have been able to make out the wicked smile that stretched across the grey flesh.
"Get me out of here and together we will return the Digital World to the glory of ancient times, with you as the god of dimensions," the prisoner said.
"I am honored by your request for my ability, but I fear no matter how many digimon I absorb, it would be impossible to breach you out of this prison-dimension," Parallelmon stated.
"I have spent the uncountable amount of time of my imprisonment formulating variants of my liberation; none of which were as straightforward as being merely carried out of this wretched place. What follows now must be carried out methodically and delicately. You are destined to alter the fate of the Digital World, Parallelmon, and this is the genesis. Follow my instructions carefully and we will crumble the pillars of both worlds! Bring me humans with darkened hearts."
"Attention passengers, we are beginning our descent. At this time, we ask that you return your seats to their upright positions and put up your trays. Please remain in your seats until the light indicates that you are free to move about the cabin. We will be landing at Kansai International Airport. The local time is 2:25 in the afternoon with clear skies allowing for a wonderful day of sightseeing. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Japan and thank you for flying with-"
"Excuse me sir, can you open up the window cover please?" Joey asked the elderly Japanese man occupying the window seat. He begrudgingly complied. The sight of the Osaka cityscape across the bay was more astonishing Joey than anticipated - spanning for miles in all directions with buildings reaching for the heavens. Joey could make out castles and parks and shrines and a Ferris wheel. Joey clutched the small glass vial hanging from his necklace, rubbing it over with his thump.
"I made it," he whispered.
Exiting the arrival section with his two suitcases and a backpack, Joey surveyed the area looking for a particular collective of foreigners. He had seen pictures of his fellow study abroad students in their group chat, but with all the people muttering about, finding specific individuals would be difficult.
Joey swung his luggage around to a nearby support pillar to get out of the traffic. Kneeling, he searched through the papers of his backpack to find the sheet detailing instructions upon arrival. According to the directions, Joey was in the proper location and within the requested window of arrival time….
"Are you here for the study abroad program?"
A Japanese girl with a gentle smile stood before him. She had her auburn hair pulled into a ponytail that draped over her shoulder.
"I could tell by your lost expression," she said with a small giggle. "I am Aya Okudera. Everyone else is next to the windows."
She pointed at a large group of foreign students. Impossible to miss.
"Let me carry this for you". It was more of a command than asking for permission. Before Joey could get back on his feet, the girl was already walking back to the group with his heavier suitcase.
Twenty-three young adults, each carrying a variety of suitcases and bags, clustered together by the large windows overlooking the outside of the terminal. All of them looked as tired and grimy from their flights as Joey felt from his, but he noticed small pods had already been formed within the group, indicating he must have missed some crucial off-the-bat bonding. Amongst the students stood one middle-aged man, equipped with a briefcase and a clipboard in hand.
"You must be Joey Irving. Hope your flight was good. You're actually the last person to arrive."
Joey felt a twinge of embarrassment for holding them up.
The man introduced himself as Jack, the study abroad program's sight director and events coordinator, then asked for Joey to give a quick introduction to his fellow student's.
"In Japanese!" Jack exclaimed with a loud laugh.
"I mean… I can," Joey replied with too much confidence. Hopefully, it did not come across as too eager to show off his proficiency, but Jack dismissed the offer to let him know that speaking in English was good enough.
While on the plane, Joey rehearsed his introduction over a dozen times, and over two-dozen times in Japanese, but after he gave his name and home university his mind went blank. He came up with nothing other than an uncomfortable laugh.
Saving everyone, Jack stepped up to say "Don't worry about spilling everything so soon. You all will have plenty of time to get to know each other over the next semester starting tonight when I take you all out to Gion - which is an amazing historical district in Kyoto with great bars - but first, I have busses waiting to take us all up to Kyoto, so let's all go load them up!"
As Joey resituated his backpack and luggage, he quietly appreciated Jack's infectious excitement being able to overshadow his own nervousness. Jack led the group outside as Joey shuffled into the middle of the line without any icebreakers in mind intended for those around him.
After making sure every student had their belongings and that no one was being left behind, Aya tailed the back of the line where two girls carried out a discussion regarding various information and details about Detective Conan.
"Detective Conan is very popular in Japan," Aya interjected. "I see advertisements everywhere! Even clothing stores here in Osaka sell merchandise."
"A hat would be so cute!" replied the girl whose bag was covered with anime pins.
"They probably sell a lot of those in Hokuei. Hokuei is a town in-"
"Tottori. We know," said the other girl, cutting off Aya. "We're going to visit before classes start."
Aya felt confident that any interesting fact she could muster about the popular franchise would not be new to these two girls, so she settled to interject when appropriate while doing her best to match their enthusiasm.
The conversation continued as the group exited the airport terminal and trailed to the loading zone. Happy for a reason to excuse herself from the conversation, Aya joined Jack and the bus driver loading the suitcase into the holding compartments. Some of the bags must have barely passed the airline weight restrictions. Soon, everyone's belongings were neatly, although tightly, secured in the lower section of the bus.
The students inside the bus sat quietly, save for a few scattered conversations. Aya could still hear the two girls discussing Detective Conan. She stood next to Jack at the front in anticipation for the upcoming speech.
"Welcome to Japan everyone," Jack started off with a big smile. "This bus is going to take us to our hotel in Kyoto, which is about an hour and a half drive. Gion is the nightlife district of Kyoto that blends modern drinking bars and clubs with old-style pubs. This is where geishas and maikos live - I have a planned event for tonight where we get to have dinner with a geisha as part of your welcome weekend! We will talk about this more after getting set up at the hotel, so for now I will let Aya talk more about herself." Jeff motioned for the attention to shift to Aya before taking his seat.
"Hello everyone. My name is Aya Okudera. I am a student at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies and part of the foreign aid office at the university, which means I will be your go-to person for questions and help during your semester here. As Jack said, we planned events for this weekend as part of your welcome experience, starting off with a scavenger hunt around Gion after checking in at the hotel. I am excited to meet each of you and help you have a great time in Kyoto."
Royce placed his duffel bag in the overhead area before taking the window seat and setting his backpack on the floor between his legs. Taking a seat in the front while everyone piled into the back of the bus should hopefully leave him with an empty adjacent seat. Intending to sleep on the bus ride, Royce put in his earbuds and searched for an ASMR video. To his irritation, a girl took the seat on this left.
"Hi, I'm Milo," she said. It is universally understood that if someone has earbuds in, they do not want to talk.
"Royce. Nice to meet you," he said with a half-assed smile but kept his attention back to his phone.
"Pretty exciting, right? I've never been to Japan, have you?"
"No, I haven't. I'm sure I'll have loads of fun here, but right now I would prefer to sleep. So, if you don't mind ..." Royce turned to look at his agitator, but his attention was grabbed by person coming up the bus steps. Dark brown hair that was purposefully made to look messy, a smooth complexion with a small number of faded freckles on his nose that extended onto his cheeks, a figure as though not an ounce of fat existed below his neck - all the features of a person that others naturally flock to. Royce returned his attention to his phone before making eye contact.
As Royce tried to settle on a video, he was interrupted by the distinctly excitable voice of Jack going over what to expect for the upcoming weekend. As he passed off the attention to Aya, Royce noticed the girl sitting beside him drawing a bird with rainbow feathers on her tablet. She was a better artist than him.
"That's very good," Royce said to her in a hushed voice. She responded with a solemn "Thanks" without looking in Royce's direction. Royce scoffed at her rudeness and played play on a video. He fell asleep before Aya finished talking.
When the bus stopped outside the hotel in Kyoto, Royce was woken up by the excitable Jack calling for everyone to grab their bags. He lifted his backpack from the floor, grabbed his duffel bag from the overhead, and shuffled off the bus into the growing crowd of students idle in the narrow alley.
Royce hated waiting. Swaying from foot to foot, making exaggerated sighs, drumming his fingers across the suitcase handles - not like there was anything else to do while Jack and Aya were checking in with the hotel. Just as Royce was getting used to dallying, the two exited the building and began passing out room assignments and discussing the details of the scavenger hunt.
"Can I shower?" Royce asked with a blunt tone, interrupting Jack's advice regarding navigation and transportation.
"Technically the scavenger hunt is optional - just a time filler and fun way to familiarize yourself with Kyoto before I take everyone out tonight," Jack responded.
"Great," Royce mumbled as he carried his luggage into the hotel. He checked the slip of paper to confirm his room number and door code, then continued to the fifth floor.
In the room, two futons laid next to each other on an elevated tatami floor, blankets and pillows were folded on top. Next to the door stood a cabinet with a shelf large enough to hold two suitcases. Opposite the door was a large window spanning the entire wall.
No TV, no minifridge, no bathroom.
Royce collected his toiletries, fresh clothes, then went down the hall to the bathrooms.
The toilets were separated between the sexes, yet the showers across the hall were communal. Then he discovered that the showers were each enclosed in a cramped space consisting of a standing area for drying and the shower itself behind another door. Unaccustomed to the confines of Japanese washrooms, Royce repeatedly bumped into the walls. He took his time in the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away the growing frustration.
When he was done, Royce heard another shower running. Meaning the next step would need to be done quickly.
He claimed a sink in the open area outside the showers and caught his reflection. To Royce, he never looked as unattractive as he did right after a shower. He didn't need long, just enough time to cover up the redness around his nose, the darkness under his eyes, correct the uneven tone near the hairline, pat onto the eyelids to make sure the color correction is all over, and blend into the neck. Equipped with foundation and a blending sponge, he got to work.
Royce's eyes never left his face, but his ears were on high alert for any indication of someone approaching. The noise of the running shower made him worry that he may not be aware of anyone coming towards the washrooms.
The shower stopped running just as Royce finished the coverage. Without wasting a second, Royce grabbed the eyebrow pencil and began swiftly, yet carefully, filling in his brows. With his motions expertly operating on muscle memory, Royce was finished within a minute. He sighed as the hard part was over; no one would question him styling his hair - ruffled sides and top with the bangs swooped up and to the side.
Back in the hotel room, as he lounged on the tatami mat, Royce pondered how he was going to waste time until the evening. He certainly wasn't going to do a scavenger hunt; he was not a child. Maybe just walk around and buy some clothes. His planning was cut off as the room's door opened and Royce's roommate walked in.
A toned body entered through the door with only a towel concealing the lower half. The man looked like he did a lot of cardio; very little fat, toned but not muscular. He had some hair on the upper and middle chest. Water still glistened on top of his shoulders.
"Hey! I'm Joey. Your roommate," said the damp young adult with a charming smile. "You want to join me for the scavenger hunt? I'm getting ready to head out and would love the company."
Royce stammered. He needed to compose himself before the situation turned awkward.
"Sounds great," he replied.
Milo placed her belongings in the cabinet while leaving a considerable amount of space for her roommate - if she had one. She hoped they would go on the scavenger hunt together, but it had been over ten minutes since Milo entered her assigned room. After grabbing a bandana to put over her braids, Milo headed for the cafe that she noticed downstairs.
Everything on the cafe's menu sounded delicious. From sandwiches to small fruits, coffee, and juices, even ice-cream. What if Milo ordered one of everything? He placed a hand on her thighs, tight in her jeans, reminding her that she needed to lose the weight she had gain over Freshman year.
"I recommend a light snack with yogurt on the side for your stomach," a voice startled Milo. She turned around to see the university's foreign student aid sitting at a nearby table next to the windows. Next to her leg was the smallest suitcase Milo had ever seen and an even smaller backpack.
"Y-yeah. Good idea," Milo replied. She did not even like yogurt.
After getting her food, a salad and blueberry yogurt, Milo went over to Aya.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked politely. Aya enthusiastically gestured for her to sit down. To Milo, the awkward silence set in quickly. Desperate for conversation, she said the one thing on her mind: "Why do I need yogurt? My stomach doesn't hurt."
"It is good to get local bacteria in your stomach before eating foreign foods. It helps you to not feel sick later. I learned that when I studied in Australia," Aya said. As thankful and surprised by the tip as Milo was, she still did not want to eat a single bite of the fermented milk. She collected the largest amount onto the spoon that she could, took a deep breath, and shoved the food down her throat. Milo only tasted a small bit, but it still made her gag.
Aya giggled. "Well, you know my name. What is your name?"
"Milo Shepard."
"What is your home university like?"
"I go to an art school in North Carolina."
"Wow! You must be really talented."
"I'm alright," Milo shrugged. She believed most of her drawings looked horrible.
"What brought you to Japan?" Aya asked.
Milo groaned, she hated explaining this. "I've always liked anime. It's more interesting than American television, so I spend a lot of time watching it. I've been wanting to visit Japan for years."
Aya's friendly face did not falter, yet Milo felt judgement - just another fucking weeb visiting Japan because of anime.
"Many people come to Japan because of anime. I think it is very interesting that anime inspires so many to travel here. I was talking to two girls who want to visit a small town because of Detective Conan. I think that is very special."
That… was not the response Milo was expecting. Typically, her desire to visit Japan is met with scrutiny. She sensed a twinge of comfort not felt for a while.
"I want to draw concept art for Japanese video games. As a career, I mean. And I know Nintendo is in Kyoto, so this abroad program seemed perfect for me," Milo said.
"I love the Fire Emblem series," Aya responded. "I think it would be cool if you drew characters for them."
Milo smiled. She took another gulp of yogurt before continuing the conversation. The two girls shared their favorite moments of various Fire Emblem entries and gushed over romance options. Milo could have carried on that topic into the night.
"How about we continue this during the scavenger hunt?" Aya asked after they put away their food bowls. "I want you to see the city. Yasaka Shrine and the gardens around it are wonderful!"
"Sounds great," Milo responded.
"I need to put my suitcase in my room before we go," Aya said as she pressed the elevator call button.
"What room are you in?" Milo asked.
"310," Aya replied.
"We're roommates!" Milo exclaimed. The two cheered in the elevator, proclaiming that the weekend as roommates was going to be fantastic.
In their hotel room on the third floor, Aya placed her suitcase in the gracious amount of space Milo left her, then returned to the elevator. When Aya pressed the call button, they watched the light indicating that the elevator was descending from the fifth floor. Milo took the time to be thankful for meeting such a wonderful person, believing that she could let down her walls and be comfortable with Aya.
The elevator dinged. Its doors opened to reveal a pair of guys standing in silence. One of them was the last student to arrive at the airport – Joey if she recalled correctly. And next to Joey was the rude guy who napped next to her on the bus. She remembered his name clearly, recalling that she wanted to stay away from him.
"Hey guys!" Aya said. "Want to join us for the scavenger hunt?"
All of Milo's enthusiasm drained through her feet.
"I thought the rule was 'i before e except after c'."
"Except when c makes a "sh" sound or when the pair make an "ay" sound, like with 'neighbor' or 'eight'. However, that rule has exceptions as well, as with 'neither' and 'foreign'."
The Japanese boy tilted his head. "How about I forget the rules and learn each word separate?" he said.
The older boy leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. "I suppose you could," he said. Then he checked his phone for the time. "You should be going home, Kai. We went over our scheduled time."
The young boy, Kai, picked up his notes and traced his finger through them. "I have more questions," he said.
"You can save your questions for next time, Kai." The two turned to see a middle-aged man with a ponytail and thick beard standing in the doorway. Then he spoke in Japanese, "Tyson has another matter he needs to take care of."
"Dad, if Kai has questions then it's best he asks them now before he forgets," Tyson said, giving his father gave a stern look.
"It is okay," Kai said in Japanese as he collected his papers and books into his backpack. "I did stay long. I will go." He then put a gray beanie over his blonde-dyed hair, effectively covering up the newly gown dark hair, and rushed out of the house.
The room went quiet. Tyson knew a lecture was coming.
"Prolonging a tutoring session to avoid responsibilities. Gotta say that's a good one," his father said. "However, it does not erase the fact that you told me you would apply for jobs today. Have you?"
When Tyson did not respond, his father huffed.
"You're going out right now to see who is hiring. There should still be at least one place that is short-handed."
The wall clock read '17:32'. Tyson did not want to get mixed up with drunken businessmen or fun-seeking tourists.
"Can't you and mom just work your connections?" Tyson groaned. "You both know hundreds of people; statistically several of them must be looking for help."
"If you were busy getting ready for university then yes, we would help. But since you casually decided not to do that, I don't see why your mother and I should do the work for you on this."
Tyson knew better than to argue. He left the table to get ready. He put a dark-blue button-up shirt over his tank-top, replaced his pajama pants with slacks, stuffed a few items into his pockets, and went to the washroom.
It would look more professional if he wore his full frame black glasses, even though he preferred to wear contacts. He combed his hair to part in the center. As Tyson was brushing his teeth, his mother stopped by in the hallway. She was a gorgeous Japanese woman whose skin looked as healthy as a newborn, but Tyson knew it was thanks to surgery. Still, he was thankful he inherited his mother's Japanese skin complexion over his Caucasian father.
"Since you are going out, take Jaiden with you. Get him out of that God forsaken room." She spoke with a tone of command rather than a request.
"I'll be searching for jobs; I don't know how long it will take." Tyson hoped this would shake her from him.
"Even better! Even since your father took him in, he has been running up the electricity bill," his mother said, then walked away.
Tyson's arms fell to his sides, leaving the toothbrush to hang in his teeth. He took a deep breath in through his nose, exhaled out the mouth, and headed for his cousin's room.
The door was closed, as always, with Tyson's cousin speaking indistinguishably under the J-rock music.
Tyson knocked.
"I've got two on me."
"I'm busy here too. DJ, can you get him?"
"On my way Flicker."
A bipedal wolf carrying an assault rifle raced across the map. With no enemies in his way, the wolf quickly arrived at the spot where a grey knight swung a large sword at the two attackers - an angel with a gun, and a turtle with a cannon for an arm.
"Don't let me be the last kill. Don't let me be the last kill," Flicker chanted into the ears of his teammates. With the enemy angel and turtle focused on Flicker, they did not notice DJ's wolf avatar closing the distance. He aimed for the enemy's heads and open fired. The system confirmed his accuracy with 'Headshot!' blinking onto the screen with every bullet.
As the turtle continued attacking FlickerDSM, the angel avatar shot round after round at DJ's wolf. He used his dash ability, sending the wolf running on all fours several meters away from the fight. He did a fast pivot, once against aiming for the head and unleashed all the remaining bullets into the angel avatar. Remaining bits of the health bar vanished quickly under DJ's assault, killing the angel and prompted the round to stop. Every playing character on the map froze as a big blue "VICTORY" sparkled on the computer screen.
"Fuck that was close! Good game guys," Flicker said into the team's voice chat.
"GG my dudes," DJ responded.
The play of the game began on the monitor, showing off a player who dealt the most damage and earned the most kills within a 10-second window; it was the angel.
"Are you kidding me? I did way better than her," Flicker yelled.
DJ checked the stream on his second monitor; DigitalJex, streamer to 1993 viewers, 13 new subscribers in the past three hours, and the chat was full of people praising his win at the last second.
"Thanks for the support," he spoke to the webcam. "Make sure to give love to my teammates FlickerDSM and LolaPandi by checking out their streams and following their channels."
Over the J-Rock music he had playing in the background and his teammates speaking in his ear, he could hardly make out the knocking at his door. As much as he wanted to ignore whoever was on the other side, Jaiden knew better.
"One second everyone. Housemate needs my attention," he said before switching to the 'Be Right Back' screen. Jaiden hung his headphones around his neck and ruffed his hair. He had shaved sides and back but let the rest grow out. Jaiden expected to see his uncle or aunt on the other side of the door, but to his surprise it was Tyson, his older cousin.
"Hey Jaiden," Tyson began. "I'm going out for a bit and my mom wants you to come with me." His delivery was really defeated. Obviously, this was being forced upon Tyson.
"Um… I'm actually streaming right now, so maybe another time. Thanks though." Jaiden started to close the door, but Tyson put his hand out to stop it.
"Come on." His defeated expression turned agitated. "DigitalJex can take a break from EDEN for a few hours."
"I'm trying to gain followers, not lose them. My stream schedule says that I'll be streaming for the next few hours. And everyone is really loving my new avatar build," Jaiden told his cousin, hoping it would be enough to convince him.
"Jaiden… don't be difficult. You know my parents," Tyson said.
Jaiden thought he knew his aunt and uncle well enough before they took him in at the start of the summer. In the past few months, he learned that his aunt, Misaki, placed too much importance on social status, and his uncle, Ralph, was strict about responsibility. Still, Jaiden was grateful for what they had done for him.
Jaiden groaned and returned to his computer. "Sorry viewers, something came up. I'll be back on as soon as I can, so turn on the notifications to get the alert. See ya then!"
The train's gentle, rhythmic swaying was just the way Kai liked it. Smooth rocking relaxed him and eased his mind. The train route from his tutor's house back to home was not difficult: board at Karasuma Oike station, ride the train to Sanjo station, and then switch to the line bound for Fushimi Inari. During the day, these trains are packed with tourists heading to see the famous fox shine, and equally busy at night with adults enjoying the nightlife areas of Kawaramachi and Gion. Having lived in Kyoto his entire life, Kai got familiar with excited tourists and drunk adults. Some days he even preferred sharing a train with them to going home.
A message came from the intercom: "Sanjo station. Now arriving at Sanjo station. The doors on the right side will open."
The doors were a dam that prevented two rivers from merging. Opening them invited a torrent of Japanese people exchanged places - half of them getting off the train, half getting on. Kai joined the current of people moving from train to platform. Across the platform was the train that he needed to transfer to, but the closer Kai got it, the heavier his legs became. He wasn't ready to breath the stale air of awkward silence just yet.
Instead, Kai made his way out of the station and found himself standing on the opposite side of the road from Kyoto's famous river, the Kamogawa. He was close to the Gion district, where the streets are lined with sake bars and izakayas. Many couples liked to sit on the riverbank and watch the sunset. Kai considered grabbing an ice-cream and joining them, but then realized a better use of his time.
Kai bought a bag of almond fish from a nearby FamilyMart and then walked south toward Yasaka Shrine. Aside from wasting time on the subway, wondering the gardens of Yasaka Shrine were another way he like to spend an evening. It did not take Kai long to reach Yasaka Shrine's north-west entrance: a large gravel area surrounded by trees and bushes with several stone benches. He sat on a bench near a clearing of grass and opened the bag of fish snacks.
Tch tch tch, he clicked his tongue.
Tch tch tch, he clicked again and opened the bag.
Something rustled the bushes to his right. Kai separated a handful of fish from the almonds and placed them on the ground a few feet in front of him. A slender white cat trotted through the bushes, heading directly toward the dried fish.
"Hello, Angel," Kai said softy to the oncoming cat. Kai heard more movement. Cats of various sizes and colors were appearing all around him, no doubt attracted by the smell of the fish snacks. Kai placed down more food for the two new cats in front of him. "Here you go Tusk. And some for you too, Little Lion." Even though the cats were close enough to pet, Kai knew better. The feral creatures appreciated the food, but only got close enough to Kai to eat. They did not want to be touched. When another cat appeared, Kai laid down another handful of fish.
Kai had names for all the seventeen cats at Yasaka Shrine: Angel, Tusk, Li-Li (Little Lion), Sky, Hana, Hermit, Yami, Buzz, Beat, Yo-yo, Aki, Natsu, Fuyu, Haru, Maow, Kuro and… where was Katsudon?
Only a small number of fish snacks remained in the bag; he needed to make sure every cat ate. The cats of Yasaka Shrine were very good at hiding in plain sight, so Kai checked all the usual spots for this clowder's biggest member. His search took him into the extended part of gardens, where many pathways twisted through foliage and streams flowed under stone bridges. Every time Kai walked through this section, there was something new to discover. This time, however, he was looking to find something familiar. He opened the bag of fish snacks, hoping the smell would attract Katsudon.
After combing through the garden extension without any sign of Katsudon, Kai returned to the open gravel area in case the large tabby made an appearance. But when Kai returned to his usual spot, there was still no sign of the cat.
Kai's heart sank and his eyes started to water. He sat on the closest stone bench, brought his knees up to his chin, and crossed his arms over his face.
The sun was starting to descend behind the buildings, casting all Yasaka Shrine into shadow. The temperature dropped to a comfortable level once the hot Kyoto sun disappeared. Kai remained unchanged. He did not keep track of time or how many tears fell.
"Kai…?" came a familiar voice.
Kai lifted his head to see Tyson kneeling in front of him. Jaiden stood a few feet away, looking less concerned while listening to his something on his headphones. Kai unraveled himself and wiped his eyes.
"Why are you crying out here by yourself?" Tyson asked Kai in Japanese.
"Looking for a cat," Kai responded quietly. "I can't find him today. I hope he isn't ..." He could not bring himself to say what he had been fearing.
Tyson put his hand on Kai's shoulder. "We will help you look," he said before turning to look at Jaiden. "Both of us."
Jaiden looked annoyed and swung out his arms, but he did not protest.
As much as Kai appreciated the gesture, he was not hopeful. Regardless, he walked with Jaiden and Tyson.
"You've been like this all summer, Megumi."
Megumi and three of her supposed friends were underneath one of the bridges that crossed the Kamogawa. Miyu, Saori, and Ryo were venting that they had not appreciated Megumi's attitude the past few months. Miyu, Megumi's oldest friend, started the intervention by highlighting specific instances of Megumi's foul mood and bad temper.
"I understand everyone processes grief differently, but you should not take your anger out on others," said Ryo, the newest addition to the friend group.
"Strangers shouldn't get involved with matters that don't concern them," Megumi said in a pointed tone.
"See how harsh you've become? Stop being so angry at your friends," said Saori. Megumi rolled her eyes. After years of track together, Megumi expect Saori to be more sympathetic.
"I will not forgo my own emotions for the sake of your comfort," Megumi told her. "You want me to stop venting my grief to you because you're tired of me taking up your time with my problems."
"Is that what you really think of me?" Saori said before covering her face. Ryo placed his arms around her. Megumi suspected the sobbing to be fake.
Miyu leaned against a support pillar. "I knew you were too hot-headed for this type of conversation…," he said.
"Then you shouldn't have started it," Megumi said. She had had enough of feeling attacked while they made her sadness about themselves. As she walked past Miyu, he grabbed her arm.
"We only want to help. We don't think you are healing prop-"
"You're not my fucking therapist," Megumi squeezed Miyu's arm, triggering him to release her. She climbed the ramp leading to the street above.
Megumi paid no attention to where she was walking - her legs were on autopilot as she merged into the stream of strangers crossing the Kamogawa. Wherever they were heading, so was Megumi.
Her eyes did not leave the feet of whoever walked ahead of her, but her thoughts were all over. It was a struggle to keep her mind off the event that happened three months ago, or the subsequent events, the tone of family interactions ever since, the fistfight that resulted in suspension from track….
Eventually, the crowd around her stopped and Megumi pumped into the person in front of her. They were at the intersection outside of Yasaka Shrine's main gate. The gardens of Yasaka Shine were a nice place to relax.
When the light changed, Megumi was the only on to talk up the tall front steps. She could not help marveling at how the entrance looked in the twilight as the orange and white structure stood against a darkening sky.
Behind her, the main street of Gion was vibrant with lanterns, food vendors, cars - so many lights being produced before the sun fully sets. Her friends were nowhere to be seen.
When Megumi passed through the gate, all the noise of Gion faded. Typically, the main walkway of the shrine had rows of food stalls, one of which sold her favorite: sugar-coated mozzarella sticks. But the food vendors had left for the night.
The main area of the shrine contained a stage. At night, the lanterns that decorate the stage shine brightly and create a wonderful view. She sat on a nearby bench and waited for them to turn on.
Solitude gave her room to breathe. Strangers never bothered that solitude, but tonight she wanted to be alone. From her left, three boys entered the main area. One was a tall Japanese American with glasses whose thick black hair was parted to both sides. Beside him was a younger, paler American who was listening to headphones. The third was a boy in his early teens and still wearing his school uniform and had a grey beanie that pushed his blonde hair over his eyes.
Across the way, four others stepped into the gravel area: two guys and two girls. Three of them seemed American. One guy was tall and handsome, the other was nearly as tall and Megumi could tell his eyebrows were fake. One of the girls was African American, whose beautifully braided hair was pulled together under a bandana. They were also accompanied by a Japanese girl, who draped her braided auburn hair over her right shoulder.
Everyone gazed as the lanterns of the stage flickered on. However, that was all they did - flicker. On and off, the one-hundred lanterns would not stay lit for more than half a second. Megumi's eyes were beginning to hurt. She would have looked away had she not noticed the strange distortion manifesting center-stage. Hovering over the polished wood, a bright blue line cut through the air.
"Lady Ophanimon, sensors are picking up two additional lifeforms. If the gate opens now, they will be sucked in along with the Chosen Ones," said a purple rabbit staring at a monitor.
Clad in green armor that clung to her body, the angel, Ophanimon, tightened her grasp on her spear.
"Local beasts, no doubt," she said assuredly. "Shakamon stated these coordinations and this Analogue time. We must listen to the predictions. Six of these signatures are the new DigiDestined we need to stop the Dark Masters. The other two will be dealt with if needed."
Ophanimon stood on a balcony that overlooked the control room, where two Turuiemon typed away at their consoles. They were putting in the final calculations and adjustments to operate the gate. If Ophanimon were to be honest with the two workers, they would know how scared she was regarding the possibility of two extra humans in the Digital World - two humans she did not expect. Preparations have only been made for six DigiDestined.
"Change the entry point to Primary Village," Ophanimon called out.
The two purple rabbits stalled their work to turn in unison towards their commander.
"Pardon?" they both responded.
"Drop them at Primary Village instead of our Holy City. Alert Swanmon of the change in schedule. We cannot have unknown entities here," Ophanimon ordered.
The two Turuiemon looked helplessly at each other. The digimon on the right began to draft a message to Swanmon as his partner on the left turned back to Ophanimon.
"Lady Ophanimon. With the dimensional distortion interfering with the chrono-sync, I can do my best, but the accuracy could be-"
"Then do your best," Ophanimon interrupted the rabbit with her cold tone.
Turuiemon, nervous and shaking, altered the coordinates for entry to occur at, or at least hopefully close to, Primary Village.
"Coordinates set, My Lady. The Dimension Gate is… ready."
Ophanimon took a deep breath.
"Open the gate."
Back at Yasaka Shrine, Joey watched in fascination and terror as electricity crackled between the lanterns of the main stage. The line of blue light wiggled in the center. Then, with a loud bang and a shockwave that dispersed a torrent of particles, the line of light burst open into an unstable tear. Wind rushed toward the opening as though it were a vacuum.
The particles, each cycling through all colors imaginable, whirled around him, containing him within a cocoon of infinite colors. The rainbow particles swirled around as fast as the rushing wind, encroaching closer with each rotation.
Bit by bit, patches of skin and clothes were covered by the particles. No matter how hard he scratched at his arm, the particles would not come off. Someone screamed "Help me" in Japanese, alerting Joey that everyone around him was experiencing the same thing. The seven others in the courtyard were also being covered in rainbow particles, making them look as though they were wearing a full bodysuit of glitter. The one who screamed, the smallest in the group of three guys, continued doing so as one by one, the particles fled his body and returned to the distortion over the stage. With each fleeting particle, a piece of his body disappeared. Piece by piece, the young boy was disassembled. His screams continued until his entire being scattered and flowed into the tear.
Joey's body did the same thing. With each particle the left him, a hole appeared. He watched as a hole in his palm spread out to take his entire hand. His knees were disappearing, yet he did not fall over. Joey only hoped that whatever was happening would end before attacking his vitals. But the decay did not stop on him or any of the others.
One by one, all of them dissolved into thousands of rainbow-color particles that were sucked into the frazzled rupture hanging in the air.
AN: "Hello and thank you for reading my story! I spent a lot of time on this so even if I upload slowly, please stick around. Sorry that I had to use big lines to denote change in character/POV; FanFic does not allow dashes or spaced out sections. Ideally these would be mini-chapters in a book, but that would be too obnoxious to upload so I have to combine perspectives. However, as the story goes on, perspective changes will cut down. Either way, I hope you enjoy what I wrote.
Comments and favorites really motivate me!