Chapter 12: Summer and Winter
Veemon:
Once again the new cat stared at his tail as he sat on the tree branch. This time, he liked what he saw. The red gemmed ring that had brought him into this body was red all over, like it had been in the fight against Starmon, and this time it was painted to stay that way.
"Looking good, Gatomon." His former rival said. "I'm glad Kari got that new ring for you."
"Thanks. I am too."
It was not the first time Patamon had complimented the new accessory. Still, it was appreciated. Even days later, he still couldn't get over how the new ring made him feel... and in a few minutes he would get to experience it to its fullest again.
"How has Kari been doing, anyway?" the yellow digimon asked "She hasn't had anymore nightmares about that... thing lately, has she?"
"No, thank goodness no!"
Veemon had asked his partner the same question for several nights after the Dark Ocean rescue. His answer had always been "no." They still didn't know anything about that world's mysterious master, but, for now at least, its interest in them seemed to have passed.
"Thanks for asking, how's TK, anyway?"
His partner flustered a bit before answering.
"I... I don't know." He began. "He... tells me everything is alright, but I can't help but think he's been really sad these last few weeks... I think it started the same night Kari was kidnapped."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The new cat replied. "Do you think he's being targeted by that... Dragomon too?"
"I really hope not." Patamon said. "I don't think he's having nightmares. He's sleeping fine, more than usual in fact... I really don't know what to make of it. It's like he's avoiding half the humans in his life: Kari, Davis, even his mom. I wish he would tell me what's up."
That TK would avoid Kari and Davis did not seem odd at this point. He had never been on good terms with the leader, and now "Kari" was beginning to act in kind. Veemon did not know what to think about the mother, though.
"I wish I knew what to tell you." He said. "Sorry about that too."
The last school bell rang then.
"Don't worry about it." Patamon said. "It's not your fault anyway. Let's... just go home."
They turned his attention to the computer lab's window. There was no planed trip to the digital world today, so Patamon would be going straight home with his partner. The blonde boy came below the tree when it looked like all the other kids had left and held up his opened bookbag. That was the cue to go.
The flying digimon turned then to his companion and said "I guess I'm going now. See you later."
"See you tomorrow."
He flew down into the bookbag, and then his human sealed it up and walked off silently. On the off chance someone had seen "something" fall into the bag, TK speaking up into the tree would have been made the situation worse. Normally Gatomon, or nowadays Veemon, would climb down and be picked up by their partner too, but today the new Kari had soccer practice, the last practice before the summer break. The new cat had the next few hours to himself.
Leaping from the tree, he landed gracefully. It was time. Now he could experience just what his ring had done for him. He ran toward the school, and in one running jump, he was on its roof.
"Veemon could NEVER do that."
Gatomon could not either, or at least she could not without her tail ring. With it... The former dragon recalled a story Tai had told him and Davis about the original cat leaping up to punch Greymon in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. Veemon did not have a dinosaur to punch out, but he could make as great a leap as easily now as he could twiddle his old fingers.
He leaped again, from the school roof to the next building. If not as a Veemon, he could have made that jump as Flamedramon, though probably with less graceful landing. That was a warm up now. Running across the roof he made another running jump and landed on another roof two blocks down. That even Flamedramon could not has done, and it was now what the former dragon could do all the time.
The new cat had taken several trips downtown over the last week. There was more to see, much more. From what his partner had said, a city the size of Tokyo would take a very long time to explore in full. He felt that he could do it now, with the increased mobility the ring gave him, and intended to do exactly that. First, though, he wanted to get an idea of just how long it would take. He wanted to see the edge of the city.
The school was close to the harbor; the human children could walk there easily. He was headed the other way now, leaping his multiple block leaps, and stopping every now and again to take in the scenery. It continued to take his breath away. Mount Fuji alone was enough to do that on a clear day like this. Add to that the sites of the city itself and it hard not to appreciate the journey. Hours latter, the buildings began to thin out. He leaped down and started running. That seemed to be faster with fewer things in the way. Eventually the city gave way to country side...
"Moo!"
The former dragon turned to the sound of that noise. He saw, on the other side of a fence, a herd of strange black and white animals... He started at one of them and it seemed to stare back.
"Hello there?" He asked.
"Moooooo!"
"I guess they don't talk either."
Veemon had never seen an animal before he switch, baring a few insects that made it into Davis's room. Even since then, the only ones he'd really gotten to interact with were stray cats. The dogs, pigeons and rodents were all pretty hostile to his new feline form. He stared at this new animal this... "cow," the word coming to him now that he saw it, and for a brief moment, the animal stared back at him. It's interest quickly waned in him, and it began to graze, but Veemon still appreciated the experience. He spent a few minutes watching the herd.
The sky began to turn red then, as the sun started to set. This too felt like a new experience for white cat. He remembered the first time he had seen the human world's sun set, while he was out in this body. That feeling he had then was coming back to him. After all these weeks, the image begun to become mundane to him, but now, seeing it set over the fields rather than the cityscape and its many lights... it might have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
He cried there. It was the first time he had ever shed tears of joy.
As the sun finished setting he realized he would be headed home at night. That didn't bother him; he had found his feline body had excellent night vision. It did mean he would be very late getting back, but he didn't think Davis would worry to much. It wasn't the first time he'd stayed out late since the ring was painted, and his partner had been okay with it then.
He looked at the ring. It was almost the same color as the sun was now. That suited it well. Davis had told him that the human world revolved around the sun. That suited it too; his world, it now revolved around that ring. First it had given him this body, this freedom he had never known, and now... now it had taken that freedom to new heights. The power of a champion, of an adult... he had been Flamedramon so infrequently that it almost felt like a dream. Now he lived it everyday. It was his life.
"I've grown up now, haven't I?"
TK:
It was the last day of school before summer vacation. It ought to have been the most joyous day a kid could have all year. To be fair, his current mood was a lot better than it had been the day before. But compared to how it had been a month before...
As usual, the Christian was melancholy as he walked home from school. The newborn vacation almost seemed hollow.
And yet, for more reasons than that vacation, things were more than a bit unusual when he opened his apartment door.
"Da... dad?"
The man in his living room chuckled awkwardly, but, nonetheless, his reply was "Hey, son, good to see you… again."
Matt was with him. They had been sitting on the sofa when TK came in. Had Mr Ishaida just brought his son to see their mother? Why would he do that when Matt had a car?
"Wha... what are you doing here?"
His father sighed.
"Listen, TK, your... mother and I... some... complications are happening at work. We decided... it might be better if we at arms' length from each other for the time being, to help each other out. I... Matt and I will be staying here for a while."
"Oh my god."
"I..." The blonde boy struggled to speak for several seconds "are you saying you're moving in with us?".
Matt nodded. Their father seemed not to notice and said. "I... we aren't committing to that yet. Hopefully... um, these problems will resolve themselves soon, one way or another."
Mom came out of her room them. Noticing TK she said "Hey son, welcome home."
"I..." Once again he struggled to form a reply. Instead he just ran up and embraced her. "Thank you, mom. Thank you so much."
"You... you're welcome, son."
Matt and father joined in, putting the family in a group hug. It was the first time TK could remember that ever happening. It was the first time in years he'd even had the chance.
"Thanks too, dad."
"You're welcome." He replied.
"You're welcome too." Matt said under his breath.
TK did not know how long it lasted, but eventually the hug broke away. It could only have been a few seconds. Probably it was less than one, but it felt like eternity. He was in heaven, in paradise once again.
When it did end, mother addressed father "um... I think I need you now."
He only nodded in reply. They both turned toward the office, but dad turned back and said "See you again in a minute." Then the door closed behind them.
TK sat on he coach then, almost collapsing onto it. For a minute he was speechless again.
"Oh my god." he finally said.
He looked up to his brother.
"Matt, am I dreaming? Is this really happening?"
"It's happening, little bro. Our parents are really getting back together."
The smile on the older boy's face was ear to ear. The younger could not see his own face. But he had to imagine it look like that too.
Still, it was to good to be true.
"They said they weren't committing to that... just until... whatever was happening at work was over."
Matt chuckled. "I think you're being pessimistic. I think they are staying together, permanently."
"Really?'
"Of course. Their marriage is stronger now than ever."
TK couldn't believe it, and his brother seemed to pick up on it.
"They've said they need each-other, haven't they?" He said. "That sounds like bonding to me. If they are in trouble, They're in the same trouble. That has to count for something, doesn't it? People bond over that all the time."
The little brother could not argue with that. He had worried about the problems his mom seemed to be having... but now... if this was what came of it...
"It's my dream come true..."
Somehow, all of his worries seemed to melt away then.
He didn't know if Matt was right or not, but, for now at least, it didn't matter. Summer was here again, and so was a new season of his life. Maybe fall return someday, but this could only be the best summer ever.
Davis:
"Hey Kari." Mrs. Hida said as she answered the door. "I haven't seen you in a while. What's up?"
"Not much," Davis replied. "I just wanted to chat with Cody."
"Come on in."
The former boy was lead into his friend's living room.
"My son is practicing kendo with his grandpa right now." the host said. "I can take you down there, or you can wait here."
"I'll wait here; that's fine."
"Make yourself at home."
He sat down on the couch while the mother left. Now he would wait.
He had already asked Tai to make him the younger kids' leader, but the older leader was a bit hesitant.
"I wouldn't want to meddle in a group I'm not a part of." He had said.
"Not even for your sister?"
"We aren't a royal family." Tai replied. "You weren't there when the first group picked me. I had to earn that position, and when I gave him the googles, Davis was the only one who could armor digivolve. You and TK think of me as leader, but the rest of the group... they've only ever known Davis in that role. Besides, I wouldn't want to just take it from him like that."
It was fairly close to what the former boy had said to Yolie. As such, he had a good counter in mind already.
"Plan B" He thought. He said "What if the others saw me as the leader, like the older kids did with you. I know Yolie does. She told me as much herself."
It was very clear Tai was surprised by that.
"If that is true, I won't stop it, heck I'd be proud of you." He had replied. "If a majority of the younger kids acknowledge you, that's worth more than anything I could ever say."
It wasn't... not to Davis. His idol's approval had always meant a lot to him... now it meant everything. Even beyond that, there was another potential hurdle he needed it for. Even if he did get the others to acknowledge him... he wasn't sure if Kari would stand down. He thought she would, but just in case...
"What if Davis won't give up his goggles?"
"I'll talk to him if that happens." Tai had said. "I'm positive he'll yield if I do."
So was Davis.
As he had then, the former boy now reviewed his options. A majority of the new digidestened was only 3 out of 5, and Yolie and himself already made 2. If only one more kid favored him, that would make it happen. Kari was a no go, so that left TK or Cody. As much as he would love TK to finally acknowledge him, that seemed to be a no go too. Even in a new body it was clear there old rivalry was still in play. That just left Cody...
Eventually the smaller boy came into the room, still in his kendo outfit along with a similarly dressed man, presumptuously his grandfather.
"Kari?" He asked, taking off his mask.
"That's me." The new Kari said. "I wanted to talk to you, um... about private matters."
Cody seemed to gather that meant "digidestined matters" as intended. His grandfather did not.
"What sort of 'private matters' are these, little girl." He said.
"I promise it's not that." The young boy said. "It's just some stuff for our club."
"Very well." The old man replied. "I trust you would never lie to me. Would you Cody?"
"I... of course not."
The shame was clear in his eyes for a second, but only for a second. His grandfather seemed not to notice at all.
"Atta boy, Cody" Davis thought.
The elder left then, leaving them alone.
"What is it, Kari?"
"What do you think about Davis's leadership?" He went ahead and asked.
"I... honestly I've had problems with it since the beginning. He's really reckless, nothing like a leader is supposed to be."
"Gee, thanks a lot." the former Davis thought. It did not imply good things about his approval before now. It had always been obvious TK disapproved. Looking back, it seemed logical Cody would too, similar as he was to the other boy. Yolie had always been with him though, even if she didn't know who "him" was anymore, and obviously, so was Davis himself. Where had Kari been before all this? The former leader knew Kari never wanted to date him, but he never got the impression she wanted to dethrone him either. Did he ever have the group's approval, or was only running off Tai's reputation?
Somehow, that thought did not bother him as much it could have. It made him more impressed with Tai, and more proud to be his sister. Still, it did bother him. If Kari had been the swing vote keeping him on power all this time, surely she was lost to him now. For a split second, he doubted his own ability.
"What does it matter?" He thought, shrugging off his doubts, "What do any of there opinions matter next to Tai's? If he thinks I should be leader, none of them get to say otherwise."
Ironically, Cody's opinion made for a decent opportunity.
The smaller boy's temperament was largely the opposite of Yolie's. The nerdy girl had never hesitated to scoff at a plan she did not like, but at the end of the day, she went with it, eagerly it would often seem. She was a lot closer to him, a lot more "reckless," and would easily forgive such. After all, it "got things done." Cody did not see it that way; the attitude Yolie seemed to appreciate was a turn off rather than a plus. That was a blessing and a cruse right now. On the one hand, it might make the recent hesitation "Davis" had shown look better. Still, that hesitation had lead to failure, and there was one key failure of hers to come to mind.
"I know." The former boy said. "It's getting worse lately isn't it? Yolie told me he lead you guys right into an obvious trap."
When her own life was on the line the selfish girl had proven reckless in her own way, putting her teammates in danger for her own sake.
"He did." The small boy sighed.
"Why didn't you say something before then?" the aspiring gogglehead asked.
"I didn't want to disrespect him." The small boy said. "It would have been like talking back to a teacher, or to mom. Grandpa says I shouldn't do that."
"You really are his grandson." Davis thought. It made the deal sweeter, he quickly realized. Even if he didn't approve of "Kari" anymore than the previous gogglehead, he wouldn't open his mouth now either.
"What if I were the leader?" He asked.
"Can you do that?" Cody replied.
"I can. We aren't a monarchy after-all." Davis said. "I already talked with Tai about it. If most of us wanted someone else to be leader, he would endorse them. Yolie told me I should be leader, and, well, not to be arrogant, but I kind of liked the idea. If you agreed to it too, that would be a majority."
Cody dipped his head, thinking. He paused for a moment.
Eventually he lifted his head up and said "You know what? I think that is a good idea. You'd make a great leader!"
Davis smiled deeply. "Thank you, Cody." He said. "The googles are as good as mine."
They made small talk for several minute after that, and then the soon to be restored leader said his goodbyes.
"Tai is going to be so proud of me!" It was all he could think as he walked back to his apartment. "I'm the best sister ever! And now, with my new brain, I'll be a better leader than ever!"
"Even if the ingrates don't deserve me!" He said to himself.
Obviously, it was the first thing he told his idol when he got home.
"Wow, I... did not expect that to happen so quickly. I'm really impressed."
"Thank you, big brother. Thank you so much!"
"Don't worry about it, Kari, you earned it." He replied.
They reveled together for hours after that. Most of it was Tai giving the soon to be restored gogglehead leadership pointers. Davis had heard most of them before, especially after he'd first gotten the googles, but he did not mind hearing them repeated. Quite the opposite, in fact, it felt like getting his title all over again.
Eventually, a tip was cut off by "Sis, what's that on your… um... crotch?"
Davis could tell from the tone that it was like to be something awkward. He looked down. Sure enough there was a dark spot in the jeans he was wearing. Putting his hand to the spot, it felt wet.
It took him a minute to process what was happening.
"Is this..." he finally said "a period?"
He instantly blushed in embarrassment. Looking up he saw Tai doing the same.
"Um, excuse me."
The new girl ran off to the bathroom and checked. Sure enough, that was what was happening.
"Good gods..."
A knock quickly came at the door.
"You okay in there, honey?" Mrs. Kamiya asked.
"I... I think I am." Davis whimpered. "I think... I think I'm having my first period. Could you, um... help me?"
"Of course, Kari!" His mother replied. She came in then and found a sanitary pad for him. "I'm so proud of you!" She continued. "You know what this means, don't you? You're a woman now!"
"A woman."
He remembered the day he found out periods were a thing, back when Jun started having them. At first he was just told some family was coming over and he had to eat with them. He had assumed it was for his own birthday party, coming up a few weeks later. When the family came early he guessed the celebration was just to last longer than normal. He had seen the balloons his parents had brought in, despite their attempts to hide them. But then, when the day came, his sister was at the head of the table with her friends, and everyone was celebrating her. It had almost felt like she had taken his birthday party from him, and he was stuck sitting through it. He was more than a bit jealous. He did not know what a period was then, let alone the party Japanese families traditional threw for it.
"Don't worry Davis," his mother had said. "We're still doing you birthday party next week. This is different. You sister has become an adult now."
"That's really cool." He remembered asking. "When do I get a party like this?"
Half the guests had laughed at him them, Jun most of all. His jealousy grew to new heights then. Now...
"Mom," he asked. "could we order some sekihan?"
"Feeling a bit old fashioned, Kari?" Mrs. Kamiya replied.
"Please? I'd really like to have the party."
"Alright. How can I say no to you?"
When Davis was alone again, all he could do was think on what was happening.
"I really am a girl now."
He had never felt out of place in his old, male body. At first, he did feel that way in his new female body, even after he accepted it, but now, now it seemed… right, not a cost to his sibling bond with Tai, but another perk to it.
"No, I'm a woman."
She realized now those past fears had nothing to do with the body she was in, only the strange new expectations people had for her for it. Not everyone liked tomboys as much as Tai. That didn't matter, though. If he was happy, nothing else mattered. Things were as they should be.
A new stage in her life had begun, and she couldn't wait to experience it.
Matt:
"IT MAY NOT ALWAYS BE THAT WAAAAY! YOU CAN'T TAKE NOTHIN' FOR GRAAANTED!"
Not for the first time since the switch, Matt attempted to sing the lyrics of one of his songs... to less than satisfying results.
"Ugh"
He had been disappointed with his declining grades, but the loss of his singing voice bothered the former musician quite a bit more. It was one of two things had come to define his identity, and now both of them were lost.
The knock at the door was a welcome relief when it came.
"Hey, Matt, dinner is ready."
Obviously it was Kari, no one else would call him that.
"Coming!" He yelled back.
When he went downstairs he found her sitting at the table with their new parents. The sight embodied his mixed feelings about the event. When he'd first been switched he refused to eat with them, with the couple that had raised Jun and Davis. For both of the siblings to have gone so similarly wrong... his struggles could only have been the parents' fault, even if they didn't know it. Even today, he avoided them every other chance he got. It was only for his new brother that he sat with them now. He would never be family to the Motomiyas, but he had to be with Kari.
The meal itself was nothing special. Some generic combination of rice, meat and a vegetable, like every other night. They'd blurred together by now. Kari seemed to like her portion, though.
"How is it?" He asked her, making conversation.
"I like it a lot." She said, turning to Mrs Motomiya she said. "Thanks… um... mom."
"You're welcome."
He couldn't blame her for that. Food quality had been one of few improvements to her life since the switch, even if it was a regression on Matt's end. It still pained him a bit to hear her call the woman responsible for their plight "mom," and it was even worse when he had to do it himself. That was the sad reality they lived in.
Their supposed mom addressed him them. "How is your helping?"
"It's... fine."
He could tell the couple was anxious about their "daughter" growing so distant from them. He didn't care about that, but their attempts to reach out annoyed him.
"I heard that Matt boy you like and his band are having concert tonight." She continued the attempt. "You're going aren't you?'
"Yes," he sighed "I am."
It was another event he wasn't looking forward too, but it was one he felt he had to attend. Jun might have his voice now, but there was no way she knew how to use it. He had to know just how badly she would screw up the gig. He needed to know how much he needed to recover if… when he got his body back.
"That is wonderful!" Mrs. Motomiya said. "You know that's how your father and I met. Isn't that right honey?"
Matt knew. This wasn't the first time she'd told him the story. He got the impression Jun had relished hearing the details before the swap, but they only angered her replacement. They only cemented that her mother was the source of all of this.
Her eventual husband had been a singer in a band, a knock-off of the Beatles, and his eventual wife had been as enraptured with him as Western fangirls had been with Paul McCartney. The similarities between that and their daughter's crush on him were obvious, and enraging.
"Of course." the husband replied. "Your brother brought you backstage and it was love at first sight."
At first he had pitied Mr. Motomiya. Part of him assumed that Jun's mother had preformed some evil trick on him to force him to marry her, like her daughter had for their date or their switch. He quickly learned better, though. If Jun took after her mother, Davis took after his father. The man was as infatuated with his now brother-in-law as his wife had been with him. He sickened the former boy as much as she did.
"Incestuous freaks."
Seeing how much they had in common with the body stealing siblings almost made the parents seem like siblings themselves. He knew that much was a step to far. "Not even Motomiyas would stoop that low." He had thought. He didn't much care anyway.
The former boy sat through the rest of dinner, making small talk with Kari when he thought we could do so without provoking such from the thieves' parents. Seldom did it work, but he was compelled to try. Eventually the ordeal ended and he left with her while the adults cleaned up the kitchen.
"You okay, big brother?" She asked him as they went up to her current room.
"I'm fine." He lied. "What about you?'
The former girl was very obviously not okay. As much as he hated his current parents, it was, in a strange way, kind of nice to have two of them again. For Kari, who had never known otherwise, it had to be a ten times worse seeing her own family replaced like that.
"I... just miss mom and dad." She said.
"I do too." Matt replied.
"How, how to you stand it, being way from your mom all the time?"
In a way he did not. In a different way he had gotten used to it.
"I know she can't be with me." He said. "But I also know she stills love me anyway. That's still true now, and it's true for you too. Try to think on that."
It was not a lie.
Kari did seem a bit pleased by it. "Thank you." She said.
"You're welcome."
They set up a three-player game of Chinese Checkers next to her bed. The third player, siting on top of the bed itself, was Gatomon. She couldn't move the marbles with her short fingerless arms, but her partner was happy to move them for her. It had been Kari's idea. She wanted the digimon to have more interactions with someone besides herself, and Matt was happy to oblige. They wagered the former cat could hide under the sheets as quickly as she could under the bed if their "parents" came in. It would be strange to see a three player set up played by two people, but hopefully they wouldn't notice.
Of course, Kari was loosing pretty badly. By the time she got one marble to other side of the board, Matt and Gatomon had gotten five. Davis' brain was doing its worst, much to her apparent chagrin.
"Maybe we should have just done a two player with Kari moving for Gatomon against me. It would have been easier to cover-up anyway." He thought. "No, that would have been worse."
That left the match between him and the digimon.
"Come on Jun-brain." He thought. Surely the one good part of her body had to work for him now...
When his ninth marble reached the other side, Gatomon had 8 and her partner 3. At that point the current gogglehead's remaining 7 marbles proved a larger obstacle to the front-runners than they were to each other. More so for Matt, it seemed. Before the former boy could advance his last piece, the new dragon manged to smuggle both of hers past Kari's stragglers, even using them to jump most of the way across the board.
"Damnit." Matt thought. "How is Veemon's brain better than mine?"
He could still remember that night Jun embezzled a date from him. For all her faults, the savant could notice every little thing he did and what it meant. She was a living lie detector. She was an AP student. What was Veemon? For all Matt could remember the dragonspawn was as dumb as Davis... and yet, here his brain was outperforming Jun's.
"Good game, Gatomon." He said. For all his inner turmoil, he knew he had to be nice to the poor digimon. He really did feel good for her.
Thinking about it, half of the match-up did make sense.
"Maybe Veemon wasn't dumb after all." He thought. "Maybe he was just... ignorant."
He had literally lived under a rock for most of his life...
Still, Veemon had never shown feats like Jun had that night, and neither had Gatomon in his body. Why couldn't Matt now? It almost pissed him off as much as the periods.
Kari was also not looking happy. She looked down in shame. The former boy could almost hear her cry out "Maaaaaatt, you said I wasn't stupid! You said I was just stressed like you!" though her lips were not moving.
"I should have let her win." He thought. "I was to focused on my own lack of intelligence to worry about hers, and she has it worse."
He had always regretted all the times he surely must have not been there when TK needed him. He knew that wasn't his fault. It was the reality of their parents' divorce... but this? Kari was right here and not only was he not helping her, he was making things worse.
Retreat seemed the best option. Not answering that question he knew she was thinking seemed preferable to doing so.
"It's not like I've ever done it any better than that..."
He glanced over at the clock. It was almost 10 pm. He hadn't planed to leave quite this early, but that gave the best excuse.
"I, um... it's time for me to go."
"I... see..." She said. "Um... have fun I guess?'
"I doubt I will." Matt thought. Would it help to say so? For some people misery loved company.
"I'll try." He said. Kari was obviously not that kind of person. "See you tomorrow."
"See you then"
"Next time, I'll definitely let her win." He thought as he walked out. "Wait... unless Gatomon does the same she'll still loose..."
She needed to take Kari's mind of the recent loss either way... How could he communicate that?
He turned around to see his new sibling putting the game up. The human had her back turned, but her partner's eyes instantly locked with Matt's. They... almost seemed to be asking him for approval.
"Is she having the same thought I am?" He wondered.
The former boy nodded, then did the digimon did the same.
"Hey Kari," she said as Matt was closing the door. "You wanna play again?"
"One crisis avoided." He thought. "Good job Gatomon."
All digidestined knew the depth of the bonds between partners. Kari's had shown that well now; she knew exactly what to do to comfort her. That wasn't a surprise. As Matt reflected on it, though, it did surprise him that he was on the same page as her in the matter. Was a bond like that forming between him and Kari? That... was almost unthinkable.
"That can't be. I've only know her for... well..." he thought "...about the same amount of time as she's known Gatomon."
Still, Kari hadn't been a partner to him all that time. She wasn't even that great a friend to the then blonde. Mostly she had been a friend's sister, and a rival's at that.
"Is it because we're blood relatives now?'
That was dumb. They were related to Mr. and Mrs. Motomiya now too, and no love for them was lost on his end. The switched ones had been through a lot together though, these last two months. What other siblings could ever understand each other more than them? They had shared a trauma no one else ever had before, and through it all, they had been there for each other.
"Maybe misery loves company with us after all."
Of course, Gatomon was also sharing that trauma with Kari too. What human and digimon could ever understand each other like that? Matt could not imagine how great the bond between the two of them must be, a match of his new bond with Kari plus their old one between partners. There was no way even the new super-siblings matched that. Still, to even be comparable...
"Maybe I'm a better brother than I think I am."
That made Matt considerably happier as he left the apartment.
It took him much longer than anticipated to find Monoe's. Unlike the real Jun, who he had the impression visited frequently, he had never been there. He knew which apartment complex it was in, the same one as TK, whom he had visited many times, but he didn't know where to go from there. Yoli had shared her address with him once... a while ago.
"It was... 328B, right?"
The actual occupant of that house told him the Inoues were in 328E, on the far side of the neighborhood. It seemed miraculous he even knew them, though Matt supposed a family of that size was bond to attract notice. Regardless, between that and all the meandering he did trying to find the complex itself, the former boy arrived latter than he had intended, despite leaving earlier.
It was Yolie that answered the door when he finally arrived.
"Hey Jun." She said. "You okay? Usually you're here early on concert days. Monoe was kind of worried."
"I, um, got a bit lost."
The younger girl chuckled.
He had been the one to hook his band up with the bespectacled girl as a mixer, knowing her through the digidestined. Still, she had been less of a friend to him then even Kari had been. The bandmates had known each other much longer than they had her, and, helpful as she could be, it seemed she could only be an outsider to them. A girl her age just didn't fit in with older guys.
Despite that, it felt really nice to see her again. He did not get to interact with the people from his old life much anymore, so he relished it when he did. Jun, afterall, was not only a grade higher than most of the digidestined, but an AP student. She shared a couple classes with Joe, but beyond that Matt only ever passed his old friends in the hall by chance. Matt had tried to reintroduce himself to the doctor in training, but he seemed to busy and introverted for it to really stick. The former boy wanted to tell him who he really way, but he knew he would never convince someone like Joe of that...
"It is great to see you."
"Um, thanks." Yolie replied. "My sister is back in her room."
She pointed the way, expecting "Jun" to know the way from there.
"Thanks" He echoed.
Obviously, he did not know the way, but it was much easier to find the room than it had been the house. There were dozens of the latter in the complex, but only... 5 rooms in the hallway Yolie had pointed to.
"That... is a lot for an apartment." Matt thought. "Whatever, time for guessing."
Opening the first door, he saw what was obviously a boy's room.
"It must belong to Yolie's brother." He thought. "What was his name?" The Inoues he knew had only mentioned it a couple of times... "Whatever, I'm not here for him."
He closed the door and tried again. This time it was a bathroom.
Third time was the charm. Entering that room, he saw two beds pointed toward the door. In front of them, two teenage girls stood talking. Matt recognized one of them as Monoe. The other must have been her sister Chizaru.
"I guess they share this room." He thought. Recalling the number of rooms in the house it made sense. 4 bedrooms for 6 people was already stretching things.
"There you are!" Monoe exclaimed as he came in. "What's up Jun? Nothing bad happen on the way?"
"No, I just got a little lost." Matt replied. "Sorry I'm late."
"Lost? Really?" Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, really." Matt answered. It was as true as it had ever been these last two months.
"Eh, don't worry about it. We've still got a couple hours before the concert."
That was true. Matt remembered scheduling it before the switch. He had wanted a more normal hour once they settled on July 30th for the date, but somehow Takashi managed to convince everyone else that a midnight gig was cooler. Technically, this meant that the concert was actually occurring on July 31st, but it still worked for their purposes. As long as it was over before the anniversary, that was fine with Matt. He did not want his band and digidestined celebrations to conflict.
Of course, Matt wasn't a digidestined anymore... not in this body. It was doubly ironic now, and doubly bitter. He would get to enjoy neither of those things now like he had planned. That was the other side of his identity that had been stolen from him.
"I miss you, Gabumon."
"You hyped for the concert?" Monoe asked.
He wasn't, but thinking about one of his looses seemed better than thinking on both of them.
"Yes, I am." He said.
"Me too." He said. "I hope they play a love song. Those are always their best."
"Of course they are." Matt thought.
As useful as Monoe was to him, the former musician still did not know if he trusted her. He knew intellectually that Monoe was not a body stealer. If she were, he would be hanging out with Akira right now. A couple of times he had tried to test her promise, "accidentally" calling her Akira and talking about the Teenage Wolves as if they both were a part of them. The most she had done in response to that was look at him funny. In her present state, Monoe was nothing to be feared. Inexorably she saw him as her best friend. That was good for now, but it did raise questions on how she would see him if she knew who he really was. Matt had though about telling her, both in the hopes she might help him with the real Jun and out a morbid curiosity about how she would react. It was obviously a bad idea, though. Even if he could get her to believe him, and he doubted he could, there was always the risk she would side with her true best friend over him. Maybe then he really would find his bandmate in her body...
"Yeah, me too." He lied.
Chizaru rolled her eyes.
"I was hoping you wouldn't show up." She grumbled.
Matt had seen her in a few of his old classes before the switch, but never really talked to her. They were the same age, but, it seemed, in very different cliques. She obviously had no affection for the band member then, but she had never sent a vibe his way quite what she was now sending at "Jun." Then again, he supposed he wouldn't have known if she did. It did not seem as though Chizaru hated him, but is was obvious that she was more than a bit annoyed by his presence.
"See you later, I'm headed out."
Monoe rolled her eyes to that as her sister left the room.
"What's her problem?" Matt asked
"Beats me. She just doesn't like good music. She does this every time the wolves are having a concert." Her sister said. "I really wish I were an only child."
"Trust me, no you don't" He thought.
He hadn't appreciated sharing a room with TK years ago either, but looking back, he could only have found memories of his time with him. Hearing Monoe say that moved the ungrateful sibling a lot further from friendship in his mind.
"Anyway, let's not dwell on that." She said. "How have you been?"
"Struggling in classes in a menstruating body while missing my family, partner, friends, voice and balls." he thought
"I've been fine."
"Same." The host replied.
After a bit more small talk, she walked over to the room's TV. It was sitting on a shelf with DVD's. Monoe began shuffling through them. Picking one she turned around and said "Remember that rental you loved last time you were here? I went ahead and bought it, and I think we have just enough time to watch it before the main event!"
"Lucky us." Matt said, trying his best to hide the sarcasm. Knowing Jun and Monoe it could only be some cheesy chick-flick he would have to sit through.
It turned out to be a body swap comedy.
"You've got to be kidding me."
It was called "Transfer Student." It involved a middle school boy and girl switching bodies and the awkward situations they found themselves in going to school as the opposite sex.
"You've GOT to be kidding me!"
Monoe clearly found their hijinks amusing, laughing every other scene. The most Matt could manage was a forced chuckle. It wasn't funny to him… it couldn't be anymore. All he could feel watching the movie was pity and anger.
"This is what inspired Jun, isn't it? This is why she thinks body swaps are romantic. This is why all this insanity happened!"
He had never hated a movie quite like this one. None had ever made him this angry.
And yet, none had ever made him this sympathetic either. The girl did not steal the boy's boy, or even the other way around. It was an accident. Neither of them wanted it and both suffered because of it. As much as Jun's shadow hung over the film, he couldn't see her in its characters. The main boy and girl weren't her and Davis, they her him and Kari. He wanted to hate them for causing his own plight, his new brother's plight, but he had never felt sorry for fictional characters quite like he had for them. It made him ashamed of his anger.
Then Monoe laughed at them again, at the pain he shared. As far as he was concerned she was laughing at him, and all of his anger was redirected at her.
"Freak."
Eventually the movie finally ended.
"Look at the time!" Monoe exclaimed as she turned off the TV. "We'd better get going."
She tried to make small talk with him as they walked to the concert hall. After the spectacle, Matt could only see her in contempt. Still, he did feel obliged to answer her.
"She doesn't know." He kept telling himself. "It's all a movie trope to her."
That didn't make it any more pleasant.
For that reason, it was a huge relief when they arrived. Of course, it came with it's own new anxiety.
"Time to find out how much Jun screwed up my band..."
After turning in their tickets, the apparent friends were guided into a crowded auditorium. The former boy had never minded crowds, but this turnout bothered him. Whatever happened, half the fans in Kanto were like to see it. That made it that much worse.
It couldn't have been long before the Teenage Wolves came on stage, but it felt like forever.
"Helloooo Tokyo!" Jun exclaimed.
"Ugh, cliché already."
The crowd seemed not to mind though, exploding into revelry.
"This is going to be a long night."
It was probably less than a minute before the show started in earnest. Somehow it felt longer than the waiting he'd already done. It was the first time he'd actually seen his own body for more than a passing moment. By design he'd avoided her at school, and their differences in classes made that easy. The most he'd seen it up until now was the time he'd gone to confront Jun at his house. Seeing her now, in addition to being the ultimate reminder of what she'd taken from him, it also reminded him of that confrontation.
"We're one now, united in body and soul."
He scowled as the music finally started.
He calmed himself as his friends played the instrumental intro. He remembered doing that on stage when they did that. It was a different experience from this perspective, but it did help.
It's the moment of truth then, the beat came for the lead singer to begin. Jun opened her mouth... and the sound was majestic.
"It might not always be that way! You can't take nothin' for granted! "
"No!" Matt screamed in his mind. "That's not possible… How is she doing this?"
He thought back to his own terrible singing... had that switched too? Not just his physical voice but his knowledge of how to use it? How could that be?
"I know the rings left me with Jun's French... I know Kari is talking like Davis now... Obviously the rings switch speaking skills, but musical ones too?"
Despite the missing AP knowledge, Matt knew that singing came from a different part of the brain than speaking.
"Then again, we did establish it isn't our brains that switch…"
Jun kept on singing, though that song and several others. All the time she never missed beat. Matt had been prepared for her to bomb, but this…
"She really has taken everything from me." He thought. "Everything I have… and everything I am..."
Throughout it all Monoe kept screaming out to them.
"I love you Akira! Go Teenage Wolves!"
Even when she didn't know who Jun was, she was still encouraging her, her true best friend.
After what must have been a thousand years, the concert approached its end.
"We have one more song for you guys tonight!" Jun said to the crowd. "Let's go out with a bang. It's a brand new single!"
The crowd roared in approval.
Whatever it was, it meant she was singing something he never had before.
"She can't have stolen that from me right?'
Jun said one more thing as the intro started playing.
"I dedicate this song to the one I love. You're listening, aren't you?"
"Gag me." Matt thought.
"The song is called 'Fallen for You!'"
"That?" He had almost forgotten about the musical debacle he was trying to make before the switch. Now it was coming back to him... Had Jun picked it up? As the intro played, Matt recognized it as Yakuta's making. Did he do the whole thing?
Then she opened her mouth again.
"I see you there, without our clothes. The serpent in me stirs. I cannot resist your fruit
But Father says we can't."
"Subtle as ever Jun." Matt thought, deciding it was her making. Usually the band wasn't that blatant... she was definitely putting her own spin into this song. "Still, that does sound better as an opening line than a chorus like I was thinking."
Several in the crowd gasped, but that was quickly replaced by cheering...
"I do not know right from wrong, but I know our love is true.
Father says we cannot be, but how can it be a sin?
If I must leave his house, oh well. My paradise is with you."
The crowd loved it… Matt could only hate it; his heart felt nothing else for the body thief or what she made, but his head… there he loved it too. It was better than anything he could have done with the song. It might have been the night's best performance.
"I'm Fallen for Youuuu! Fallen For Youuuu!
My soul is yours, and your body is mine!"
Matt screamed. It was all he could manage to do. Somehow, it didn't seem out of place in the roaring crowd.
Kari:
"This game's winner is… Red Team!"
That was what Kari heard as she entered her own living room.
Tai and Davis fist bumped. "Excellent work sis!"
"Thanks big brother." Davis replied. "We make the best team!"
The former girl had gotten an invitation in the mail to a party here, "For friends and family of Kamiya Hikari." Irony aside, that looked to be a fair description of who all was attending. Kari had passed by her grandparents on the way in, and here in the living room were most of the digidestined. Sora and Izzy were on the couch with Tai and Davis, apparently the loosing team of the last game of Smash. Yolie and Cody were watching. Mimi, Joe, Matt and TK were the only ones absent. Mimi's absence was to be expected; intercontinental vacations weren't cheap, and knowing Joe there was probably some test or study session he was missing it for. For a moment that seemed jerkish to Kari, but then again, it's not like the invitation had said what the party was for... That just left the "brothers" unaccounted for. It was shame not to see TK, but Kari was very glad not to see Jun, who no doubt would have been invited in Matt's place.
"Good game." Sora said. Izzy and Tai repeated it.
"I called winner." Yolie said. "You want to be my teammate, Cody?"
"Eh, I'll pass. My mom's never liked me playing violent video games, and I get enough fighting in the digital world anyway."
That brought Yolie's eyes to the current leader.
"What about you, Davis?"
Kari shared Cody's sentiment. Her mother had been okay with she and Tai playing games like this, but the then girl never really liked them, and fighting for real in a digital world had made such games seem redundant anyway. Still, it would not be the first time she'd played these games with her brother. Every time Kari had come to visit her old family, she had been roped into doing something Davis used to do with Tai: Smash, sports, shounen, something they liked, and invariably, she didn't. Up until recently she hadn't quite minded; it was worth it to be here, to be with them. Now though...
"When was the last time you hung out with Tai? Not just ate dinner with him and your parents, I mean did something together you both enjoyed?"
Try as she might to ignore it, those words still haunted her, and it was harder to ignore them here than anywhere else... but for that reason, she felt she had to. Anything else would prove Davis right.
"Sure, I'm game."
Sitting where Izzy had sat, the current gogglehead changed her character from his Fox to Mewtwo. The catlike Pokemon was her usual choice because it vaguely reminded her of Gatomon.
"Mewtwo? Really?" Yolie asked. "He's the bottom of the tier list."
"Tier list?"
"All the characters have a competitive ranking. Sheik is at the top. Mewtwo is at the bottom."
"I'd say the team is balanced then." Izzy said. "It looks like you're keeping my choice."
It was true. Kari was the only one who looked to be changing character. Yolie had kept Sora's Zelda, and Tai and Davis had their usual Fire Emblem mains.
"They aren't though." The nerdy girl said for the other team. "Marth is top tier, and Roy is middle tier."
"To be fair," Sora said. "Roy is at the bottom of middle tier."
All Kari could think was "What?"
"Hey we beat Fox and Sheik with him, and they're the two highest ranked." Davis countered. "Tiers are nothing next to skill."
"Indeed." Izzy agreed. "Also the tier lists are wrong, because Fox is only #2. With a skill ceiling that high, he is obviously the way of the future."
"Fox? Nah, that will never happen." Yolie said "Besides, Falco is better. My partner told me, so it must be true."
The group chuckled at that and the game began.
Of course, Kari was the first to die.
"You should have kept Fox." Izzy joked.
As quickly as Sheik went down without her, Kari didn't think that would have mattered.
Once again Tai and Davis fist bumped. "Excellent work again, sis. You've grown so much!"
"You two have nothing in common, and I have everything in common with him. You were a terrible match with Tai, and I'm a great one." Rang in her head again. "I deserve him and you don't."
She looked around taking in the view of her old house. It was amazing how comforting it was just be here…
"You're home. Just focus on that." She thought.
Yolie and Izzy had a rematch then. During the bout, Matt, or rather, Jun, came in with TK.
"Hey guys." She said grinning. TK echoed her.
"Wow… TK really looks happy. What's up with that?" She thought. She would have asked him had he not stayed so close to Jun. "I guess he's happy to be with… Matt again. That doesn't happen often enough."
The rematch had the same outcome as before, and the same disheartening celebration by the winners.
"Maybe I shouldn't have come..."
She looked around. Being here still appeased her. She still had that much.
Before another game could begin, Mrs. Kamiya came out of the kitchen. Everyone present had been told not to go in there until she said they could. That seemed to be what was happening now.
"Dinner is ready. You can all come in!"
Family members wound up being herded in first. The irony that the true Kari was not among them was once again painful, but it did not compare to what came once she herself entered the room. It was... red. Balloons of that color were attached to everything their strings could be tied around, and in front of every seat was a plate of light red sekihan rice and beans.
"No… oh gods no!"
The friends and family of "Kamiya Hikari" had been invited to a party... to celebrate her first period.
Jun burst into laughing. "Well, well, well Kari," she said "congratulations, you're finally a woman!".
There was a look of joy on the face Davis had stolen from her. The true Kari could not see it, but she could not imagine what her current face must have looked like then. She couldn't begin to describe how it felt. She had never felt a misery quite like that.
"He... he's taken womanhood from me."
It couldn't be. Matt had promised her they would be back in their own bodies before anything like this could happen, but now...
The rest of the group was to focused on the new maiden to notice her despair. They showered him in praises like Jun had. They practically paraded him to the front of the table.
"Is he even a 'him' anymore?"
And, of course, it was Tai that praised him more than any of the others.
"I'm so proud of you, Kari."
"Thanks, big brother."
The other guests sat down and began eating the rice. Kari just stared at it. She couldn't bring herself to touch it. She couldn't even stare at it for long. It was a reminder of what was happening, of what she had lost. Her adulthood had been taken from her, along with her life, along with her family, along with everything else. It took all of her willpower not to burst into tears. She had done that more than once since the switch, and once in public. She could not bare to do it again in front of everyone. What kind of leader would she be then? She tried looking around again to take in the sight of her old home... but quickly found she could no longer do that either. The red balloons all around her was as great a reminder as the red food. Even that old solace was denied to her... it was like her house had been stolen all over again.
"What did I do to deserve this?"
Eventually Tai did seem to notice her.
"You okay, Davis?" He asked. "You haven't touched your food."
"I... I... I..." It took the current gogglehead several attempts to form the words. "...I don't think I'm hungry."
"That's not like you. Are you sure you're alright? You seem... distraught."
"I... I guess all the talk of periods took away my appetite."
It wasn't a lie. No one there besides the body thieves could know the real reason, but everyone seemed to believe it. Celebrated transitions to a new stage of life aside, bodily emissions tended to have that effect. They did seem to be sympathetic, though some, particularly among the ladies, were less than others.
"I, um, can I be excused?"
With that the crowd's sympathy was lost. Yolie, in particular, rolled her eyes, seemingly more disgusted by the reaction "Davis" was having than its apparent trigger. As far as she could tell her leader was just another guy to disgusted by a woman's body to even keep courtesy. At this point, Kari did not care. She had to get any from this. Unfortunately her mother seemed to share this sentiment.
"Really?" Was all she asked.
"It's okay." Davis input. "If you want to go, go."
The apparent maiden's consent was enough to restore the crowd's respect.
"Alright, I guess so." Mrs Kamiya yielded.
The sound was so sweet that for a moment Kari almost respected the thief herself... not that it lasted long.
"I'm under his power." She though as she stood up. "He's excusing me from my own seat."
Then again, it wasn't her seat anymore, was it, anymore than it was her home... or her party... or her womanhood... All of that was his.
Despite that, she could only relish leaving this room.
"You're still the leader." She told herself. "Outside of this house you have the power."
When she was halfway to the door Tai unexpectedly got up as well.
"May I be excused too?" He asked. "I'll be back. There's something I wanted to talk to Davis about, though, and this seems like a good opportunity."
"Alright"
He followed her out into the living room.
"Wha.. what is it?"
"It's, um, a digidestined matter." Tai began. "I wish I could have said it to the whole group at the party, but well, with the family around that wouldn't have worked, and we aren't all here anyway."
"Odaiba Memorial Day is coming up. I don't know about Mimi, but I can't imagine Joe wouldn't be present then, and there wouldn't be family."
"That is true." Tai chuckled. "I'm surprised you know about that. Did Kari tell you?"
"...yes."
"Good on her. Anyway, was going to tell the others then, but, well, I think you ought to know sooner anyway. You see..."
He paused for a bit, seemingly trying to find the right words.
"I don't know that there is a nice way to say this..."
"Just come out with it." Kari said. It wasn't until after the words left her month that she feared she knew exactly what was coming.
"Very well, You see... I think I'm going to have to take your goggles."
The world collapsed around her.
"Kari came to me and told me Yolie thought she would be a better leader. Later she came back and said Cody agreed with her. If that is true, well, I'm sorry but I don't think you can lead the younger digidestined given most of them don't think you should."
There was a long time before any of them spoke. Tai was waiting for a reply, but... but...
Eventually he asked "Davis, are you... okay?"
She burst out crying then.
She had seen it coming. It was obvious even to someone with Davis's brain that she was not doing well. She has hoped her dismissal by the soccer coach would have strengthened her to it... but here, now, at the same time as everything else... to lose the one thing she had gained...
She could see Tai moving his lips as if to talk to her. She couldn't hear anything, though. Her brain just couldn't process it. The next thing she knew she was back at her new apartment, staring at herself in the mirror. Davis had always been noticeably darker of skin than most of the group, but now, his face looked paler she ever remembered her old face to, with the exception of two darker streaks coming down from her eyes. As she stared at it vague memories of Tai walking her here came back to her... next thing she knew she was in bed. She was a zombie just going through Davis's routine at that point, or rather, the version of it she had been using since she came here. Vaguely she could also remember Matt and her new parents asking ridiculous questions of her. She could almost hear Gatomon doing the same then from under the bed. She did not know if she answered them or not. Nothing she said was worth remembering anymore. Nothing she did was either. Nothing mattered. She didn't deserve anything.