Episode 08: Back to Nature, Back to Battle (Part 1)

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"Sometimes, silence is the best way to win an argument." -Jorge P. Guerrero

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Previously On DFX:

Our heroes met the Celestial Digimons and discussed the new threat. Some more secrets were revealed on the way. Now they are to get ready and search for their spirits once more. They are to stay at Ophanimon's Castle and share rooms, which causes Takuya and Nagisa to have their first argument. All wish those two would go through without killing each other.


Kouji's POV:

-The Next Day ~Morning Time~-

The sun shone brightly as morning came.

I was currently in my room waiting for Izumi, who went to change. While waiting, I glanced at our suite-like room. The walls were white and the floor was wooden. There was a normal side window, with off-white curtains dangling on its sides, in the middle wall. A small rectangular black table lay on a smooth off-white carpet between our beds.

My side of the room was on the left; it looked exactly like my room back at home. The whole bedroom set was gray with dark blue bedding. Nothing was on the side tables except for an old alarm clock and a small calendar. On the right side, stood a long gray lamp with white shades on top; along it was a gray wardrobe. Inside the drawers were all my private stuff like photographs of friends and family, and autographs of basketball players.

The left half of the room was Izumi's, really girly but decent at the same time. The bedroom set was the lightest shade of purple, with white and lavender bedding. The one side table had piles cooking and fashion magazines while the other had picture frames. On her dressing table were various makeup products. Her closet stood on the wall next to the window. Her bedside wall only had a butterfly-shaped wall clock.

"Sorry, I took so long." I heard Izumi's voice as she stepped out of the bathroom. She went to the window and pushed it open, letting a semi-warm breeze pass through. I got up and stood with her.

"No worries. I know how much time girls take to dress up," I chuckled and she lightly smacked my arm.

"It feels nice, don't you think?" She asked while leaning on the window pane.

"Yeah, it does," She smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

We suddenly heard a knock on the main door.

"Come in," I called out. It opened up revealing my brother and our chubby friend.

"Good morning," Kouichi greeted us.

"Yeah, good morning," Junpei yawned.

"A good morning to you too. Looks like you guys slept well," Izumi greeted back.

"With someone snoring so much, how can you sleep peacefully?" Kouichi shot an annoying look at Junpei.

"What? It's not my fault that I was tired. Besides you were snoring as well," Junpei said as he went out of the room.

Kouichi fought back as he followed him out, "I do not snore!"

Suddenly, A scream was heard from outside.

SLAM! CRASH! BANG!

We all dashed out to find Takuya laying on the floor and Kirishima standing at the foot of her room.

"Didn't I tell you to leave the fucking room since I forgot my clothes on the bed? Then why were you standing outside the bathroom door?!" Nagisa shouted at the boy.

"Shit, that hurts! I asked what you were saying, but you came out and started screaming and throwing things at me! Now, who's the one at fault here?!" Takuya fought back.

We sweat dropped looking at the two argue.

"Why burst the anger mode so early in the morning?" Tomoki came from his room, rubbing his eyes.

"Um... Kouji, you are the only one who can keep him out of trouble. So..." Everyone looked at me.

I sighed and called out to our idiot leader, "Takuya, can't you keep your pervertedness in check?" At this, he began shooting daggers at me.

"Where does being perverted come in all this? It is clearly her fault!" He got up from the floor and began arguing with Kirishima again, "You shout all the time. Why didn't you do that this time?"

The girl pinched her nose, "It's so early in the morning, plus I don't have the stamina to deal with you and scream for your deaf ears to listen."

Takuya's anger grew more. Kirishima ignored him, closed the door behind her and faced the rest of us, "Sorry for the early morning 'extravaganza'," She apologized and began walking away. Just then, Junpei's stomach growled loudly. Kirishima stopped, shoulders dropping and without looking back, gestured us to follow her, "Cafeteria, c'mon."

We all silently followed her. I could still feel Takuya fuming behind us. I'll have to hear him out later.

Normal POV:

The group walked for a short distance and reached a great hall. Nagisa pushed open the huge doors. The room was covered with picnic tables where Digimon sat, enjoying their meal. All the way at the back stood a counter/bar with stools in the front.

"Good morning!" Nagisa greeted everyone. A chorus of greetings was heard as the Warriors walked to the end of the room. A couple of chef Digimon were working behind the bar.


Digital Analyzer

Name: Cookmon

Level: Rookie

Type: Entertainment

Attack Techniques: Astro Cooking, Soulfull Course

Description: An Iron Chef that will capture the heart of any gourmet. It is strong in both mind and body, and it will sometimes cook not just ingredients, but even enemy Digimon.


One of the Cookmon greeted, "Good morning, Nagisa-sama. What will you have today?"

"Don't worry about me right now. These guys here are new and need a little help, so I'll leave the rest to you," Nagisa spoke as Cookmon nodded.

The Chef Digimon guided the gang to a table near the counter and everyone gave their breakfast orders. Nagisa sat on one of the bar stools. Takuya was still glaring at the girl when his best friend nudged him by the elbow.

"What?" He grunted.

"Don't 'what' me. Why do you have to pick a fight with someone we just met?" Kouji asked annoyingly.

"She just gets on my nerves! She just goes on about rules and shit that I don't understand. I mean, come on! I have the right to do whatever the fuck I want in my room." Takuya explained.

"First of all, you both should control the language drive. Second, you are sharing the room with a girl, so you have to follow the rules and play fair. Third, we have no idea who she really is, only knowing that she has spent her whole life here," I strictly spoke.

"So?" He snorted.

"So why argue with her on every topic? You have never done this before with anyone else, except us."

The goggle-head simply looked away.

"I have noticed you staring at her ever since the first time we met her. What's the deal?" Kouji pushed on.

Takuya sighed, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"You better fucking talk later."

"What happened to 'control the language drive'?"

The conversation was disturbed by a high pitched voice, "Hello, dear Warriors! It's so nice to finally meet y'all!"

The two looked up to see a ball-shaped creature standing at the table.


Digital Analyze

Name: Pâtissmon

Type: Entertainment

Level: Champion

Attack Techniques: Pastry Clash, Strawberry Wrap, Telekinesis

Description: Pâtissmon is a kind-hearted Digimon with the love for food. If someone makes fun of her cooking or calls her... fat, her mood changes to a furious one. Her attacks Pastry Clash and Strawberry Wrap can cause great damage to her opponent.


The Digimon was huge and wore a maid-like outfit. Her hands were huge as well with long think fingers. Her face was caked in makeup and a chef hat adorned her head. Her whipped cream like fluffy hair was shaped in twin curls. Her feet were rath small considering her structure. The complexion was of rosy color

"Oi, Pâtissmon!" Nagisa called out.

"So rude, Nagisa! You should have called me and introduced us!" She went over to the girl.

The Love Warrior apologized, "I'm so very sorry." Sarcasm laced in her words.

"Pâtissmon, everyone. Everyone, Pâtissmon. There," Nagisa annoyingly introduced.

"You don't seem in a good mood, hun." Pâtissmon noticed and snapped her huge fingers, "I know just the thing to lighten your mood!"

A glass of milkshake floated over and landed in front of the girl, "Here ya go, your favorite! Fresh and delicious."

Nagisa took a long sip and sighed in relief. "You know me so well," Nagisa murmured.

Pâtissmon turned her attention to the group and asked for their orders who told her they had already done so. She stormed to the back kitchen and yelling was heard. After a few minutes, several Cookmon came in a rush and served the meals. All ate in silence while taking in more new developments they witnessed. During this time, Charle had flown in, greeting the group and then went to sit next to Nagisa.

"Na-chan~"

"Charle~"

"I heard you had another argument with Goggle-san this morning," Charle snickered.

Nagisa hummed while biting into a strawberry.

Charle picked up a slice of cheese that was brought to her and said, "You haven't done this before-chu."

"Done what?"

"Argue with someone you don't know so well."

"He just pisses me off."

"Only that-chu?"

"What else can it be?"

"You tell me. No secrets, remember?"

"...I don't wanna talk about it."

Charle stared sternly at her partner-slash-sister. She then gasped, "Ah, I almost forgot. You have to meet up with Opha-san later. She also said to bring the others-chu."

"I'm what? Their fu-freaking babysitter?"

"They don't know the way to the new Digi-World. We were the same when we came here, too-chu."

Nagisa just sighed. She motioned her fellow Digimon to do the call. Charle happily flew to the table as the group was finishing up.

"I'm so sorry for what Na-chan did-chu," Charle excused.

"No worries, Charle. She already apologized," Izumi said while patting Charle on the head.

"Some shitty apology that was," Takuya mocked.

WHACK!

"Ow!" The boy rubbed his arm.

"She just needs to get used to all this. She is really nice!" The Witch Digimon said while waving her arms. "Anyways, I came here to tell you all that Opha-san, I mean Ophanimon, wants you to come to the meeting room. To discuss your spirits and stuff."

"I was wondering when we'll start on that," Kouichi said as he and the others got up.

"Alrighty! Let's go, Na-" Charle looked to where her partner was, to find her seat empty. "Uwah..."

"She is obviously trying to not get used to us," Junpei chuckled.

Charle looked down, dejectedly, "I'm so sorry-chu."

Kouji patted the Digimon and said, "You can guide us instead. Besides, we shouldn't force anyone to do what they don't want to," He finished while glaring at the leader.

Charle nodded and lead the gang to the meeting room. The walk was a little longer this time because of the number of stairs.

"What did Ophanimon think when she rebuilt this place?" Junpei whined.

Tomoki tittered, "This is a good exercise for you, Junpei-san."

The group reached the hall and stepped inside. Nagisa was sitting on a chair, next to her Ophanimon stood, smiling brightly. "Good morning, children."

They greeted her back and took their seats. Unfortunately, Takuya sat opposite to Nagisa and another glaring competition commenced. "How was your first night here?"

"Just peachy," The two answered simultaneously. The others sighed at this.

"Getting along well, I see?" Ophanimon said as she took a seat.

You have no idea. The thought flowed in the warriors' minds.

"Anyways, I decided to send you all to search for your spirits in pairs. Seraphimon, Cherubimon and I agreed on this together since except for Nagisa you all are sort of new here. As you can see, a lot of changes had been made when the world was rebuilt. We wouldn't want to waste time, now do we?"

Everyone agreed but Nagisa interrupted, "What's my part in all this? I just have to look for my Beast Spirit which I can do alone. And I have other stuff waiting."

"I'm aware. I asked for your duties to be moved forward until this task is done."

Nagisa blew a breath of air out, a little displeased. Maybe it's a good thing... I already am in a bad mood to deal with certain people.

Ophanimon cleared her throat, "Back on the task on hand, we were able to pinpoint the locations. You all just have to pair up accordingly." She snapped her fingers and a map developed on the table. There were several flag icons on the corner. "You all might be familiar with where you first found your Spirits before, but here is what we found." The flag icons moved around the map and landed at different locations. Each flag's color changed to each person's respective colors.

"Huh. The Underground Labyrinth, where I got Lobomon," Kouji said.

Tomoki pointed at a green flag, "Candlemon Village for me."

"Breezy Village. But I remember getting Kazemon there," Izumi tilted her head questioningly.

"We made sure the Spirits didn't go far," Ophanimon cleared.

Junpei beamed, "The Wind Factory! I bet that's just the place."

"Great, the Forest of the Continent of Darkness," Kouichi slumped.

"It's not as dark as it used to be. Many Digimon have made the place a little livelier," The Celestial Digimon reassured.

"Fortuneteller Village, kinda expected that," Takuya grumbled.

"Hidden Hideout. Isn't it like deep inside the Forest Terminal?" Nagisa pondered.

Ophanimon stood up, "With this, you all may know who goes with who."

"Looks like it's me and you, Tomo." Kouji ruffled the boy's hair.

"Junpei and I. Oh well," Izumi said while Junpei silently cheered.

"Seems like I'm alone in this," Kouichi said.

"No, no. One of the rookies can join you," Ophanimon smiled.

"Bokomon since he seems to know the place. Besides I never got to see it."

Tomoki jumped out of his seat, "Can Charle accompany us?"

"Of course."

"Then Neemon will be with us," Izumi puffed.

The remaining two sat with blank faces. They slowly lifted their heads and looked at one another. "You..."

Nagisa got up and yelled, "You are like a fucking parasite!"

Takuya did the same, "Well, I can say the same for you! It's like I got cursed or something when I came here!"

"Oh yeah! That curse of yours is affecting me equally!"

"It's not like I wanna be with you every fucking awakening and sleeping hour!"

"That goes without saying!"

The others sweatdropped at the sight.

Nagisa crossed her arms, "There is no way I'm going with this guy."

Takuya fisted his hands, "I'm not too thrilled with the idea of going with you either."

"I was feeling a little better since I didn't have to do more shit. But you... had to go and ruin it!"

"Well, you can go do your so-called shit! I can take care of this just fine!"

CLAP!

"That's enough, you two." Ophanimon sternly spoke. "No matter how much you dislike each other, the task must be done. You two shall be going together. No excuses. And control that tongue of yours if you please."

Both groaned and mumbled cursed. "You may all leave now. The Trailmons will soon arrive at the terminal. Have a safe journey, everyone."

All bid goodbye and began to leave, "Takuya, Nagisa. I heard of your little wake-up call from this morning. Try to control it because other residents are trying to have a peaceful stay."

The group left for the terminal. There, they met up with the three rookies and boarded different Trailmons. On the way, everyone had many thoughts. Some hoped for the journey to go uninterrupted, some were just happy to explore, and some wanted their journey to end without bloodshed happening.

Takuya's POV:

-Timeskip: Fortuneteller Village~The Forest Kingdom~-

I have been told to have good fortune wherever I go. Yeah, I'm clumsy and a stubborn shit most of the time but what did I do to deserve this?! I'M CURSING AT MYSELF TOO!

The thought roamed around my head while I gazed out the window. Kirishima was sitting in the other compartment like before when we came to the Digi-World. We didn't even glance at each other when we climbed on Mole.

To be honest, I didn't want to have this sort of start with her. I wanted to be friends. She reminded me of Kouji a lot so I thought it would be easy to get along. But turns out she doesn't and now neither do I. Every time I see her, I just wanna explode. However... at the same time, I wanna get to know her and wanna know who she is. When Charle first called her via that nickname, I presumed she was someone from my past. Kirishima does remind me of her but their behavior is completely different. Every time I get a chance to talk, the girl just ignores me. I don't think shyness has to do anything with this. I know I was mad that we have to work together but I'm kinda looking forward to this. I hope we get to have a proper conversation.

The whistled blew, signaling the arrival of our destination. I got out of the Travel Digimon and looked around. This village hasn't changed a bit; maybe a few new stalls here and there but nothing much. I glanced to my right and saw Kirishima thanking Mole and then the pink Trailmon began to move away from us. Kirishima stood a the side of the track, looking at her D-Tector. Must be trying to detect her spirit. I decided to do the same.

"That won't do squat," I heard the girl say as she came close. She was standing at least ten feet away from me. Instead of retorting badly, I sighed, "So what do you suggest?"

"Move around a bit. Check the previous spots, I guess."

"What were you looking at the other side then?"

"The hideout is that way. We'll have to walk, I mean, I'll have to walk there."

"...I don't mind."

"What?"

"Accompanying you. I know what I said earlier, I was just in a pretty shitty mood."

"I can understand. I was the same."

Is it just me or are we having a decent convo here? Wow. That happened faster than I expected.

"But I gotta say..."

"Hmm?"

"I just... I really fucking can't stand you."

And all goes down the drain. Moreover, how can she say that with a straight face?!

I started to feel anger building up yet pushed it down, "Fine, I get that. You don't like me, so I'll do my search and you do yours."

She kept staring at me like I'm some weirdo then shook her head, "You didn't let me finish." Wait, what?

"It's true I can't stand you, however, I never said I wouldn't like you to accompany me nor that I wouldn't mind helping you."

Now I was the one who stared at her as if she was a weirdo. She scowled, "What's with the face?"

"Huh? Wha? No, nothing. I just... um."

"We may have started on the wrong foot... and I don't want to stay like that. Not that I mind... I mean, we have to work together, one way or another, in all of this and um...Argh! I got hella scolded yesterday for behaving badly, and I feel guilty, okay? I'm not that good when it comes to conversing with new people, plus I find it easier to be blunt about shit, so some things come out the wrong way. And... why am I even saying this to you?"

Snort.

I don't know why I just started laughing. It was a snicker at first, then I laughed so hard that my stomach ached. I bet I was making her angry yet I couldn't help it. Kirishima began walking away, "Wait! Ha, I didn't mean to laugh. I was just amazed because I was thinking the same thing along the lines."

She glanced over her shoulder as I continued, "I didn't get hella scolded, although I was thinking about getting to know you and shit. Don't worry about the 'conversing' matter, I'll help you out. I'm pretty good at it."

Kirishima seemed to be in deep thought, "Alright then. I know more arguments are bound to come in the near future and so, I'll try to be as good as I'm bad to you."

I grinned widely, "Deal."

Maybe this isn't going to be that bad.

"We were also given the warning to control our 'language'."

Snort. Pfft.

"Nothing new there."


The next chapter is important. I'm giving my all in that one. Keep smiling!