Episode 03: O Dear Partner, Where Art Thou?
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"Life is full of surprises."-John Major
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Previously On DFX:
The Chosen Children meet their old friends and a new companion, Charlottemon (Charle). Plus, the gang had once again been called back to the Digital World. The Guardians also told them shocking news: there is another Spirit Bearer besides the original 10. But putting those feelings aside, they gear up for their search.
Normal POV:
The Legendary Warriors opened the bottle of their courage and hope for their investigation. But someone wanted to make perfectly right...
"Argh! I can't think of a perfect plan!" The Flame Warrior cried out.
The others slapped their foreheads at the scene.
"We don't need a 'perfect' plan, idiot," Kouji scoffed.
"Still... Okay, we will search every place, since we have five hours till noon. Let's divide each other into three groups."
Junpei jumped up and said, "I will go with Izumi-chan!"
"I will go with Kouji!" Izumi barged in, excitedly.
Junpei's face fell and Tomoki patted his back, "Don't worry. I'll go with you, Junpei-san. Neemon too."
Kouichi stood up from his place and suggested, "How about this? Since the Digimon know how the new member looks like, each pair take one with them while hiding them, of course. So Takuya, Charle, and I will look around Shibuya Crossing."
Izumi grabbed Kouji's and Bokomon's hands, "Then we'll look around Center Gai Street." Her boyfriend sighed, "You only want to check out the shops, don't you?"
"No! I was just thinking what if the person we are looking for is fond of fashion too?" She pouted. "Wait, are they a girl?"
"Oh wow. We don't even know that," Takuya said while pinching his nose.
"Yes-chu!" Charle happily answered.
Izumi silently cheered. Tomoki spoke up, "Us remaining three will search around Ebisu Garden Place and the parks nearby."
"Done?" Takuya asked.
All nodded in agreement.
"Alright, if anyone of us finds the person, give a call. Let's go!"
Junpei's POV:
This sucks.
Why couldn't I go with Izumi-chan? It's so not fair. I know that she is with Kouji now but it won't hurt for her to go with others once in a while. I mean, friends and couples are different. And it's rude to not let friends-
My thoughts were interrupted by Neemon jumping up and down in front of me. As he jumped up, I grabbed him and asked him annoyingly, "What is your problem, Neemon? Can't you see I was thinking about something really important?!"
"Tomoki told me that whenever you're thinking, you don't pay attention to anything around you. So I decided to do this." I whipped my head towards the little fella beside me.
Watching him laugh, I scowled but later joined him.
After having a good laugh, we again started walking to our destination. To be honest, I really don't care about this new member and I just wanna go to the Digital World, it's been fun years since our memorable adventure. Whenever I think back, I always smile at those fun memories. I hated the thought that I was the last one to get my spirit and the time when only Taki and Koko were able to have Mega Evolutions, but then I realized that they were the only ones capable of saving the Digi-World during the time. In the end, the rest of us also became Susanomon and defeated Lucemon.
While remembering, I didn't become aware that we had already reached the train station. Tomoki and Neemon had even started looking around without waking me up from my daydream. "Hey! Wait for me!"
Tomoki's POV:
—-Mita Okanoue Park—-
We dropped at the Ebisu East Station and searched Ebisu Graden Place but didn't find anything. Now we were looking around and about different parks.
Junpei-san is really carefree. He hasn't realized how important this mission is. He only thinks about getting along with girls. I wonder who this new Warrior is like, I don't even know if that person is a girl or a boy- Wait, wait! I remember Charle mentioning that they are a girl. I have become forgetful like Junpei-san. Well, that means we will have another girl besides Izumi-san. Can't wait to meet her. I thought while looking at the almost empty park. That's a good thing since Neemon refused to act as a doll. From what Charle had told us the mysterious person was wearing a white hoodie and dark jeans with boots. I mean that's very specific, huh?
I glanced at Neemon who was looking under a pebble.
"Neemon, why are you staring at underneath that rock?" I asked.
"Oh, I just thought that she might be under this." He answered in a funny voice.
"She? You mean the new Digi-Destined?" He nodded as an answer.
Aha, this guy hasn't changed.
I wonder where Junpei-san went off to.
I saw him trying to climb a tree from which I figured he had already had fallen multiple times.
"Junpei-san, you do know that you can't and also don't know how to climb trees, right?" I told him.
"Of course, I do. Just watch." He said confidently and started climbing it again.
After falling four more times, he finally managed to get to the top. He blew some air out of his nose, "See, I told you I can do it!"
I snickered when I heard a cracking sound coming from the tree branch.
"Um... Junpei-san, I think I would be best if you get off." I warned him.
"Why? Oh never mind, now where is that girl we are looking for? Let's see might be behind that shop, or in front of that car..." He kept mumbling and eyeing every spot.
"Junpei-san, you should really get down," I said as the cracking sound got louder.
"Can't you see I am trying to work here, Tomoki? Ah, look I think that's her. She is wearing a white hood and she-" The branch made its final screech and fell with Junpei-san screaming.
"AH!" He fell face flat on the grassy floor. Neemon and I rushed to his side, helping him get up.
"That was one goodie stunting. Do it again!" Neemon shouted.
"Neemon, you are supposed to be quiet or else the people might get scared," I told him as I glance at the people that were eyeing us now. He stopped and in return, sat down pretending to be a stuffed toy.
I turned back to Junpei-san, "Are you alright?"
"I think I broke my nose-Ow!" He whined while faking his tears.
I sighed and handed him a handkerchief, "Okay, now if you're better, let's finish our search. The others might be waiting."
My phone started to ring and I picked it up to hear Izumi-san's voice. She asked how our search was going and I began telling her everything.
Kouji's POV:
—-Center Gai Street: Uniqlo—-
Fifteen minutes before calling Tomoki
W had literally searched every part of Center Gai. After looking for about half an hour, we decided to take a break in an empty ally way. Bokomon, who was playing as a stuffed toy, finally felt relieved in being released from Izumi's grip.
"You humans cannot even let a single person have peace," He complained.
"No choice, we had to do that 'cause you are an unknown creature in our world. Plus people will get scared," I told him.
I looked at Izumi who was dialing random numbers on her phone. I scooted closer to her and asked, "Who are you calling?"
"My ex-boyfriend," She said while grinning.
"Seriously?" I scoffed, clearly knowing of her lie.
"Silly boy, I was just gonna call the others to check how they are doing," She exclaimed.
"Hmm. By the way, don't say that ever again." She softly laughed in return.
"Hello, Tomoki? How's the search? Oh, we are almost done,". After a few moments of chit-chatting, I heard her cry out.
"What?! Junpei did that? Even though he knows its dangerous because of his weight. Yeah, I would have said the same to him if I were in your place. Yeah. Okay, see you guys back at the treehouse in..." She looked at me and I mouthed two and a half hours. "Two hours! Okay, then bye-bye." She closed her phone and started laughing.
"What happened?" I asked curiously. "Well -haha- Junpei, he climbed on a tree, and fell when the branch broke." She giggled as I spoke next, "That proves that he has been eating a lot more than usual."
Bokomon looked at us, "I must say he has lost some weight, but not much as one or two pounds."
The three of us snickered.
Suddenly, my phone started ringing. I took it out of my pocket to see Takuya's number on the screen and clicked the answer button and told him about our search.
Kouichi's POV:
—Station Hachikō Exit—
An hour before calling Kouji
"Um, Takuya..." I said in a slightly angry voice.
"Yeah, Kouichi. What is it?" He answered in a carefree tone.
"Weren't we supposed to search Crossing?"
He nodded slowly.
"Then answer my one question; How on earth did we end up in the sewage?!"
He laughed lightly while being terrified because I think I was practically looking like a monster. Charle was looking completely confused.
"W-W-Well, this isn't my fault in the first place! It was that driver's slipup who was lashing crazily on the road. You should be glad that you didn't die," He replied proudly.
"I don't care! You could have pushed us on the sidewalk instead of throwing us down into this garbage dump." I lectured him. I don't even know how we got inside this place. The place reeks... sh-No cursing remember, Koui.
"Okay! So, I was being a dope for throwing us down here. But look on the bright side, we didn't get hurt, right Charle?" He said glancing at the little beast.
"He does have a point. We didn't get hurt, but your clothes got kinda dirty. Plus, this place stinks-chu!" She said covering her nose.
Oh boy, now I was getting really mad at those two. "Alright then, even if we didn't get hurt and our clothes are a 'little' dirty. How do we get out of here now? We still have to search other places."
"I know there are ladders here somewhere. We just have to walk until we find another opening." Takuya assumed.
"Aha look! There's one right over there," He pointed straight ahead.
We walked slowly because the filthy liquid squish-squashing under our feet was not a good feeling. Charle was flying freely without any tension sweeping her mind. But she's really worried about her partner. The two of them must be really close; she has been talking about her since we left for the search. Surprisingly, she didn't tell us her name; only saying that she will introduce herself to them soon. Oh well, patience is a virtue after all. Still, I am a little curious about her. I was thinking too deeply before I heard Takuya call out for me.
"Kouichi, come on or we will be late," Takuya reminded me as he opened the lid to the road. I climbed on the ladder minding my feet from slipping. We finally got out of that... urgh... I don't wanna remember about that place for the rest of my life.
"Finally free!" Takuya got on his knees and shouted with his hands stretched up. Charle slipped into my arms, unmoving.
Buzzing my lips, I reminded him, "It was your blunder to begin with."
"Yeah, yeah, but now we are out... and covered in shit." Good thing his mom or Iz isn't here to hear this. "We need to get a change of clothes, I'll call Iz." He took out his phone and dialed the girl's number. "Huh? The number's busy. Guess I'll try Kouji."
"I doubt he'll listen without complimenting us first."
"He's with Iz, she'll definitely lend a hand even if Kouji started a saying... stuff," With that he contacted Kouji.
After a few seconds, Kouji received the call. "Hey! How's the search going on your side? Yup, we finished searching the Crossing but uh... let me put this on speaker, you do the same."
"You are a chicken in front of Kou," I said bluntly.
"Am not!" He defended himself.
"Okay, now what's the problem?" Kouji asked from the other side.
Takuya looked at me, pleading to answer instead of him. I sighed and began telling him the whole story. Later than a couple of minutes, "And that's how we need another pair of clothes because of this idiot." I finished. "Kouji? Izumi? Anyone there?"
"You guys are absolutely dim-witted," The couple said blankly.
"Don't mix me up with him! I'm smarter then this guy. His whole brain is equal to the farthest part of mine," I fought back.
"I guess your ri- hold it, who are you to judge me?" Takuya started arguing.
"If you two start fighting, I swear I won't help at all," Izumi warned us firmly.
"Yes, ma'am." We nodded together.
Izumi told us to go to Shibuya Hikarie Mall where her aunt will provide us with some fresh clothes. She said she will contact her relative right away before ending the call. We walked the entire way to our destination and the worst part; no taxi was allowing us to sit due to our appearance. At last, reaching to the boutique, Izumi's aunt first stared at us as if we had two heads, then gave us each a set of clothes and walked us to the changing rooms. I sat Charle on one of the stools near the rooms and silently instructed her to not move much.
A while later, I stepped out was wearing a purple-stripped gray button-up shirt with loose white pants and brown shoes. It looked kinda different according to my taste but it's temporary. Takuya came out a little while later, wearing a blood-red ragged sleeved jacket, underneath it was an off-white shirt saying "I'M FIRE, I'M DEATH" in orange with some flame design with blue jeans and maroon jogging shoes with yellow lining. His goggles being around his neck were placed on top of the head like old times. He seemed to like his new get-up. Izumi must have told her aunt about our tastes in clothes beforehand.
As we took our fellow Digimon, we went up to our friend's aunt and thanked her for the help as well as apologized for the mess. When we offered to pay she simply declined and said it was a gift so we can keep them. We were very grateful especially Takuya. We stepped out of the shop to continue our search.
Normal POV:
The squad was searching until it was noon. Instead of meeting up, they held a conference call and discussed today's progress. Sadly, none of them were able to even find a single clue. They decided to search again tomorrow before leaving for the Digi-World. They left the little Digimons in Junpei's hands since his parents weren't home. Only Charle protested to stay with the Warrior of Flame, who hesitated. After a few failed attempts, Takuya agreed on letting her stay with him. Everyone bid their goodbyes and went to their households. As each one of them reached, they began packing their stuff and got ready to have the last dinner with their families before their departure.
Each went to bed with different thoughts. Tomorrow is a new day and the last in their world.
But it looks like someone can't rest in peace so easily...
A shadowed person was standing in front of two graves holding a pair of fresh white lilies. They lowered down to her knees and gently placed each of the flowers on the two graves, then pressed her hands together and started praying. "I really wish I could have met you," They mumbled before standing straight up and leaving the graveyard.
Well, wasn't that a sad moment I put up there. But y'know stories have all kinds of genres and mine is a happy:), sad:'(, funny:D, horrifying:O, and angst /:( book. If you're wondering where the gang is, they have gone to watch a movie. I sent them off because I wanted some relax time while writing the story.
See you later!
