Tamers: Stuck in Paradise
Part 2
by Christian "Sid" Lang
"I guess it's safe to join them now, right?" Ken asks, slowly starting to move.
"Let's put it this way: We won't be completely safe while they can still see us."
T.K. grins and shakes his head about Davis' remark.
Who would've known? Davis does have some sense... he tells himself.
"Davis, you're an idiot. Try to understand poor Kari." Yolei tells him while they're walking.
"Well, he's not completely wrong." Hawkmon mumbles.
"What was that?" Yolei shouts, staring at her Digimon partner.
"Well, I'll be gone once this Rookie on steroids wakes up again." the bird Digimon replies.
"You wouldn't want me to fight this... Digimon, would you?" Patamon asks with wide eyes.
"Pah. I bet Veemon could take care of-" Davis starts to brag.
"ARE YOU NUTS?" the little blue reptile yells.
"Well, I guess Paildramon would stand a good chance..." Ken muses.
"Paildramon is an Ultimate Digimon. That one's just a Rookie." Cody reminds him.
"By the way: I wouldn't place any bets on DNA Digivolutions." T.K. tells them.
"What are you talking about?" Yolei asks, concern showing on her face.
"Gennai told Gatomon that her Ring was the key to DNA Digivolutions. Now that she has it back..."
"Oh. I see. But maybe ExVeemon could-"
"Davis! Don't even think of it!" Veemon quickly interrupts his partner.
By now the group has reched the place where the two Digimon have fallen.
A blue-haired boy and a brown-haired one have turned the potential war into a discussion.
A discussion that ends abruptly when they join the group.
"Oh my God. Not another one!" the red-haired girl shouts, pointing at Davis.
The blue-haired boy and his Digimon, a Terriermon instantly start to snicker.
The brown-haired boy looks annoyed, while his Digimon-
What a beast! Is that a Rookie? Must be half as big as as Greymon!
-looks confused.
T.K. suddenly grins when he sees the connection the girl is seeing.
Yet another goggle-boy.
By now the others start giggling, too. T.K. is happy to see that Kari is also smiling.
Only Davis doesn't get the hidden joke.
"What? Is there something funny? I don't get it!"
"God, are all goggle-heads such brain-dead morons?" the girl with the broken-heart shirt yells.
"Hey, I'm not a moron!" Davis poorly tries to defend himself.
T.K. sighs and steps forward.
"I guess this will be easier with some names." he says and quickly introduces the DigiDestined.
The blue-haired boy smiles and nods.
"You're right. I'm Lee, this is Ruki, and his name here is Takato."
"Good. Now, I'd like to hear why you-" T.K. says.
Ruki has looked at him, then at Patamon. Suddenly she rolls her eyes and groans.
"What?" T.K. asks her, waving with his arms.
"Let me guess: You're also one of those Digi-Pet-Types, right?" Ruki asks.
T.K. looks at his firends in confusion.
"She means that you treat your Digimon like a friend." Lee helps out.
"What's wrong with that?" T.K. asks Ruki.
"Pah. Your Digimon will never be any good in this weak state."
Davis chosses this moment to join the discussion.
With the fallen Renamon between him and the sitting Ruki he bows down to her.
"Yeah, right. Says the girl with the unconscious Digi-URKS"
Davis' comment is interrupted by a three-fingered, gloved paw grabbing his throat.
All DigiDestined (and their Digimon) (except for Davis) jump slightly.
None of them had seen Renamon's arm move.
Slowly, the not-so-unconscious Renamon sits up, staring at the boy in her grip.
She brings his face to her level and stares him directly into his eyes.
"Never - mock - my - Ruki. Got that?" she slowly asks him.
With pure horror showing in his eyes, the boy gives the Digimon a thumb-up sign, not daring to move his head.
After another long second, Renamon releases Davis, who instantly starts to gasp.
"Oh. So you're awake." Ruki simply comments.
Boy, she's as cold as ice. She doesn't even ask if Renamon is OK or something like that...
Obviously Renamon is used to this kind of treatment, since she just nods and gets up.
"You all right?" the red huge dino Digimon asks Renamon, moving closer.
"Of course I am. I'm no weakling, you know?" Renamon answers coldly, staring at the dino.
"OK, let's have the welcome party later. We still don't know where we are." Lee interrupts them.
The DigiDestined suddenly smile.
"You're in the DigiWorld, of course." Kari tells him.
Renamon whirls around to face the girl. T.K. is instantly ready to jump, should the Digimon try to attack.
But nothing of that kind happens.
"This can't be the DigiWorld." Renamon states with a frown.
"Why not DigiWorld?" the still-unknown Dino asks.
Renamon sighs.
"Right. You can't know. If you had been born here, you'd know that it simply... doesn't feel right."
"Well, I don't know if it's your DigiWorld, but it sure is ours." Ken says.
Then he realizes what he just said.
"What does all of that mean?" Takato finally asks.
Ruki stares at Renamon and gulps.
"Renamon. How do we get back?" she asks, her voice barely more than a whisper.
The yellow fox-like Digimon just frowns.
"How do we get back?" Ruki repeats the question.
"I don't even know how we could return from 'my' DigiWorld."
"That would mean that we are-" the little Terriermon starts to say.
"-lost." Renamon finishes the sentence.
The silence that follow this word seems to last forever.
"What about... our parents?" Takato slowly asks, fighting back his tears.
"Gone." Ruki whispers, her eyes fixed on something a million miles away.
"But... there must be a way back. Right, Renamon?" Lee asks, trying to cheer his friends up.
"Why are you asking me? Do I look omniscient?" the Digimon snaps at him furiously, startling the boy.
Then she seems to regret her words and simply hugs Ruki, who instantly bursts into tears.
"It'll be all right, Heartbreaker. We still have each other." she whispers at the girl.
"It's... my fault. I just walked into the light without even thinking!" the girl sobs.
"Shhh. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."
"Takato. Why everybody unhappy?" the dino Digimon asks.
"I'll explain it later, Guilmon." Takato just answers, petting the Digimon's head.
Lee seems to be lost in thought, and Terriermon simply watches his partner.
T.K. jumps slightly when Kari tips his shoulder.
"Isn't there something familiar in this scenario?" she whispers into his ear.
T.K. slaps his fore head when he realizes what she is hinting at.
"Of course! That's just like our first trip to the DigiWorld!" he shouts, startling everybody.
"Hm? what are you talking about, T.K.?" Lee asks, cocking his head.
"A couple of years ago, some friends and I landed here, too."
And so, T.K. quickly tells the three kids the story of their adventures in the Digital World.
"So in the end, everything worked out just fine." he finishes his story.
"So your advice is to wander around until we meet an evil Digimon with ambitions to conquer our world?"
T.K.'s chin drops while he tries to answer Ruki's sarcastical question.
Fortunately, somebody else saves the situation.
"Oh, making new friends already?"
Everybody turns to face the newcomer.
"Izzy! Perfect timing!" Kari shouts and briefly hugs the DigiDestined.
"Whoa, I could get used to that kind of greeting." the older boy says and smiles.
"Don't get too used to it." T.K. says, smiling himself (at Kari).
"Hey, you don't stand a chance against-" Davis starts to protest, but is silenced by Lee's polite cough.
T.K. quickly tells Izzy what's going on.
The brain of the 'old' DigiDestined whistles as he realizes the size of the problem.
"I'd have to contact Gennai. But the whole work could take some days." he finally says.
"And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Takato asks.
"Wander around without aim?" Guilmon proposes.
That innocent comment made everybody smile again.
"I think we can think of someplace more... comfortable." Kari answers, holding up her D3.
"Right! Come on!" Yolei shouts enthusiastically.
Lee frowns and looks at Ruki, who shrugs in return.
Yeah. What other choice do we have? he thinks as they follow the group.
The fourteen kids and their Digimon appear in the computer room of the school.
Some of the Digimon are lying on top of each other since there isn't enough space for everybody to stand.
"Get off me or else!" Renamon groans and pushes Armadillomon off her back.
After a while, the Digimon have found some space to stand in.
All of a sudden, the door to the room opens!
Kari gasps when she sees one of her teachers standing in the corridor, having a worried look on his face.
Strange. How can he see the Digimon from there? she asks herself.
"What are you doing here? Come on, the alarm isn't over yet!" the teacher shouts.
When he sees fourteen blank faces, he looks even more worried.
"The news are full of it! There are monsters all over the planet! And they're helping us! It's-"
"What monsters?" Guilmon asks innocently, stepping towards the teacher.
Here we go... Kari thinks and braces for the teacher's reaction.
When he is still standing after five whole seconds, she starts to worry herself.
"Awesome." he mutters, staring at Guilmon.
Then he notices the other Digimon.
"You... you are those kids who... saved the world?" he finally asks them.
Kari and her friends blush since they have never seen it that way.
After a while, another teacher runs past their room and skids to a full stop.
"What are you doing..." the new teacher starts to shout.
Then he sees the Digimon.
Gatomon is speechless. Until now, she thought she had seen everything.
But she had never been surrounded by so many humans.
At least not by humans who knew that she could talk and save the world and stuff.
The news about the children who had saved the world had spread like a fire.
The cat Digimon has spotted at least one TV team so far.
Somehow, though, she liked it better when she had some privacy.
Now she feels almost like a famous Hollywood star or something like that.
She is quite relieved when Kari bows down to her.
But the girl looks worried, and that alone is reason enough for Gatomon to start worrying, too.
"What's up?" she asks her human partner.
"Have you seen Ruki and her Digimon lately?" the girl asks in a quiet tone.
"Well, they're not down here and my field of view is... limited." the cat answers.
"Please do me a favour and find Ruki. This must be really hard for her."
Gatomon instantly nods, then frowns.
"How're Lee and Takato doing?" she asks Kari.
"They're playing along. But we really need to find a quiet place soon."
The Digimon nods again and hushes through the jungle of legs.
I hope they're all right. This certainly isn't the best way to deal with her loss.
By now, she has reached the edge of the crowd. Nobody pays the small Digimon any attention.
The bigger Digimon are the center of attention right now.
Gatomon quickly looks over her shoulder to make sure that Ruki and Renamon aren't in there.
Nonsense. Kari wouldn't have called me if they were in there.
So the cat quietly hushes through the corridors of the school building.
What if they've run away? This girl certainly looked cool enough to be a loner.
When her sensitive ears pick up a muffled sob, she slows down.
She turns around a corner and immediately sees the source of the sounds.
Ruki is kneeling in the middle of the corridor, her back turned twoards Gatomon.
The girl's head leans against Renamon's shoulder, with the Digimon kneeling in front of Ruki.
Renamon gently strokes the girl's back and whispers something into her ear.
Finally Renamon notices Gatomon's presence.
Never stopping her stroking and whispering, Renamon stares at Gatomon.
But instead of hate or rage, the cat Digimon sees pure sorrow in the fox's eyes.
Not wanting to disturb them any more, Gatomon just nods and sneaks away again.
After long hours, the crowd finally left them alone, only to be replaced by the worried parents.
That must have been the hardest part for Takato and Lee. Ruki hadn't joined them yet.
Guess it's better that way. It might have broken her heart to see all of this. Gatomon muses.
The parents of the 'old' DigiDestined didn't look too surprised about this whole thing.
Well, they had known about the existence of Digimon for some years now.
It had been a small wonder that they hadn't recognized Gatomon and Patamon earlier.
On the other hand, three years can be quite a long time.
Ken's parents are the most happy couple since their son had been missing before.
Finally the parents realize that Lee and Takato look quite lost and listen to their story.
"And where will you live until you get back home?" Mrs. Kamiya asks them.
There is a long silence after that question since nobody had thought about that part yet.
"Well, we have a free room." Ken's father offers.
"I have plenty of space, so I could offer Takato and his big friend a room." Cody's Grandfather happily says.
"And I guess we could house the girl you have talked about." Kari's mother tells her daughter.
Gatomon snickers when Kari blanches.
"That would be a great idea. But we have to ask Ruki, too." Gatomon quickly answers.
Kari just stares at her smiling Digimon.
"We're pleased by your offer." Renamon's voice cuts off any protest Kari might have raised.
Everybody turns to see the Digimon walking towards them. Ruki is next to her, looking exhausted but confident.
Gatomon, having an eye for body language and such details, notices that Renamon is supporting the girl.
But Ruki looks as arrogant as ever, not willing to show any sign of weakness.
"Perfect. Now come on, it has been quite a long day." Mrs. Kamiya happily shouts.
Everybody nods and starts to leave the school building.
Only Kari stays a bit behind the group to talk to Gatomon.
"All right. What're you up to?" the girl asks, her voice barely a whisper.
"I'm not up to anything." Gatomon replies.
"Then why're you actually inviting this Ice Queen to live-"
"Stop calling her that." Gatomon hisses, her eyes becoming slits.
Kari raises an eyebrow when she notices how serious the Digimon suddenly is.
"O...kay. Sorry. But please promise me not to start any fights."
"Don't worry. I don't think that anybody's in the mood right now."
And with these words, Gatomon joins the group again.
Something has happened. Gatomon has been so quiet after I send her to look for Ruki.
Kari tries to imagine what her Digimon could have seen.
I'll have to ask her tonight. Maybe this Ruki isn't as bad as she behaves.
Nodding, Kari runs a few steps to catch up with the rest.
Part 2
by Christian "Sid" Lang
"I guess it's safe to join them now, right?" Ken asks, slowly starting to move.
"Let's put it this way: We won't be completely safe while they can still see us."
T.K. grins and shakes his head about Davis' remark.
Who would've known? Davis does have some sense... he tells himself.
"Davis, you're an idiot. Try to understand poor Kari." Yolei tells him while they're walking.
"Well, he's not completely wrong." Hawkmon mumbles.
"What was that?" Yolei shouts, staring at her Digimon partner.
"Well, I'll be gone once this Rookie on steroids wakes up again." the bird Digimon replies.
"You wouldn't want me to fight this... Digimon, would you?" Patamon asks with wide eyes.
"Pah. I bet Veemon could take care of-" Davis starts to brag.
"ARE YOU NUTS?" the little blue reptile yells.
"Well, I guess Paildramon would stand a good chance..." Ken muses.
"Paildramon is an Ultimate Digimon. That one's just a Rookie." Cody reminds him.
"By the way: I wouldn't place any bets on DNA Digivolutions." T.K. tells them.
"What are you talking about?" Yolei asks, concern showing on her face.
"Gennai told Gatomon that her Ring was the key to DNA Digivolutions. Now that she has it back..."
"Oh. I see. But maybe ExVeemon could-"
"Davis! Don't even think of it!" Veemon quickly interrupts his partner.
By now the group has reched the place where the two Digimon have fallen.
A blue-haired boy and a brown-haired one have turned the potential war into a discussion.
A discussion that ends abruptly when they join the group.
"Oh my God. Not another one!" the red-haired girl shouts, pointing at Davis.
The blue-haired boy and his Digimon, a Terriermon instantly start to snicker.
The brown-haired boy looks annoyed, while his Digimon-
What a beast! Is that a Rookie? Must be half as big as as Greymon!
-looks confused.
T.K. suddenly grins when he sees the connection the girl is seeing.
Yet another goggle-boy.
By now the others start giggling, too. T.K. is happy to see that Kari is also smiling.
Only Davis doesn't get the hidden joke.
"What? Is there something funny? I don't get it!"
"God, are all goggle-heads such brain-dead morons?" the girl with the broken-heart shirt yells.
"Hey, I'm not a moron!" Davis poorly tries to defend himself.
T.K. sighs and steps forward.
"I guess this will be easier with some names." he says and quickly introduces the DigiDestined.
The blue-haired boy smiles and nods.
"You're right. I'm Lee, this is Ruki, and his name here is Takato."
"Good. Now, I'd like to hear why you-" T.K. says.
Ruki has looked at him, then at Patamon. Suddenly she rolls her eyes and groans.
"What?" T.K. asks her, waving with his arms.
"Let me guess: You're also one of those Digi-Pet-Types, right?" Ruki asks.
T.K. looks at his firends in confusion.
"She means that you treat your Digimon like a friend." Lee helps out.
"What's wrong with that?" T.K. asks Ruki.
"Pah. Your Digimon will never be any good in this weak state."
Davis chosses this moment to join the discussion.
With the fallen Renamon between him and the sitting Ruki he bows down to her.
"Yeah, right. Says the girl with the unconscious Digi-URKS"
Davis' comment is interrupted by a three-fingered, gloved paw grabbing his throat.
All DigiDestined (and their Digimon) (except for Davis) jump slightly.
None of them had seen Renamon's arm move.
Slowly, the not-so-unconscious Renamon sits up, staring at the boy in her grip.
She brings his face to her level and stares him directly into his eyes.
"Never - mock - my - Ruki. Got that?" she slowly asks him.
With pure horror showing in his eyes, the boy gives the Digimon a thumb-up sign, not daring to move his head.
After another long second, Renamon releases Davis, who instantly starts to gasp.
"Oh. So you're awake." Ruki simply comments.
Boy, she's as cold as ice. She doesn't even ask if Renamon is OK or something like that...
Obviously Renamon is used to this kind of treatment, since she just nods and gets up.
"You all right?" the red huge dino Digimon asks Renamon, moving closer.
"Of course I am. I'm no weakling, you know?" Renamon answers coldly, staring at the dino.
"OK, let's have the welcome party later. We still don't know where we are." Lee interrupts them.
The DigiDestined suddenly smile.
"You're in the DigiWorld, of course." Kari tells him.
Renamon whirls around to face the girl. T.K. is instantly ready to jump, should the Digimon try to attack.
But nothing of that kind happens.
"This can't be the DigiWorld." Renamon states with a frown.
"Why not DigiWorld?" the still-unknown Dino asks.
Renamon sighs.
"Right. You can't know. If you had been born here, you'd know that it simply... doesn't feel right."
"Well, I don't know if it's your DigiWorld, but it sure is ours." Ken says.
Then he realizes what he just said.
"What does all of that mean?" Takato finally asks.
Ruki stares at Renamon and gulps.
"Renamon. How do we get back?" she asks, her voice barely more than a whisper.
The yellow fox-like Digimon just frowns.
"How do we get back?" Ruki repeats the question.
"I don't even know how we could return from 'my' DigiWorld."
"That would mean that we are-" the little Terriermon starts to say.
"-lost." Renamon finishes the sentence.
The silence that follow this word seems to last forever.
"What about... our parents?" Takato slowly asks, fighting back his tears.
"Gone." Ruki whispers, her eyes fixed on something a million miles away.
"But... there must be a way back. Right, Renamon?" Lee asks, trying to cheer his friends up.
"Why are you asking me? Do I look omniscient?" the Digimon snaps at him furiously, startling the boy.
Then she seems to regret her words and simply hugs Ruki, who instantly bursts into tears.
"It'll be all right, Heartbreaker. We still have each other." she whispers at the girl.
"It's... my fault. I just walked into the light without even thinking!" the girl sobs.
"Shhh. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known."
"Takato. Why everybody unhappy?" the dino Digimon asks.
"I'll explain it later, Guilmon." Takato just answers, petting the Digimon's head.
Lee seems to be lost in thought, and Terriermon simply watches his partner.
T.K. jumps slightly when Kari tips his shoulder.
"Isn't there something familiar in this scenario?" she whispers into his ear.
T.K. slaps his fore head when he realizes what she is hinting at.
"Of course! That's just like our first trip to the DigiWorld!" he shouts, startling everybody.
"Hm? what are you talking about, T.K.?" Lee asks, cocking his head.
"A couple of years ago, some friends and I landed here, too."
And so, T.K. quickly tells the three kids the story of their adventures in the Digital World.
"So in the end, everything worked out just fine." he finishes his story.
"So your advice is to wander around until we meet an evil Digimon with ambitions to conquer our world?"
T.K.'s chin drops while he tries to answer Ruki's sarcastical question.
Fortunately, somebody else saves the situation.
"Oh, making new friends already?"
Everybody turns to face the newcomer.
"Izzy! Perfect timing!" Kari shouts and briefly hugs the DigiDestined.
"Whoa, I could get used to that kind of greeting." the older boy says and smiles.
"Don't get too used to it." T.K. says, smiling himself (at Kari).
"Hey, you don't stand a chance against-" Davis starts to protest, but is silenced by Lee's polite cough.
T.K. quickly tells Izzy what's going on.
The brain of the 'old' DigiDestined whistles as he realizes the size of the problem.
"I'd have to contact Gennai. But the whole work could take some days." he finally says.
"And what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Takato asks.
"Wander around without aim?" Guilmon proposes.
That innocent comment made everybody smile again.
"I think we can think of someplace more... comfortable." Kari answers, holding up her D3.
"Right! Come on!" Yolei shouts enthusiastically.
Lee frowns and looks at Ruki, who shrugs in return.
Yeah. What other choice do we have? he thinks as they follow the group.
The fourteen kids and their Digimon appear in the computer room of the school.
Some of the Digimon are lying on top of each other since there isn't enough space for everybody to stand.
"Get off me or else!" Renamon groans and pushes Armadillomon off her back.
After a while, the Digimon have found some space to stand in.
All of a sudden, the door to the room opens!
Kari gasps when she sees one of her teachers standing in the corridor, having a worried look on his face.
Strange. How can he see the Digimon from there? she asks herself.
"What are you doing here? Come on, the alarm isn't over yet!" the teacher shouts.
When he sees fourteen blank faces, he looks even more worried.
"The news are full of it! There are monsters all over the planet! And they're helping us! It's-"
"What monsters?" Guilmon asks innocently, stepping towards the teacher.
Here we go... Kari thinks and braces for the teacher's reaction.
When he is still standing after five whole seconds, she starts to worry herself.
"Awesome." he mutters, staring at Guilmon.
Then he notices the other Digimon.
"You... you are those kids who... saved the world?" he finally asks them.
Kari and her friends blush since they have never seen it that way.
After a while, another teacher runs past their room and skids to a full stop.
"What are you doing..." the new teacher starts to shout.
Then he sees the Digimon.
Gatomon is speechless. Until now, she thought she had seen everything.
But she had never been surrounded by so many humans.
At least not by humans who knew that she could talk and save the world and stuff.
The news about the children who had saved the world had spread like a fire.
The cat Digimon has spotted at least one TV team so far.
Somehow, though, she liked it better when she had some privacy.
Now she feels almost like a famous Hollywood star or something like that.
She is quite relieved when Kari bows down to her.
But the girl looks worried, and that alone is reason enough for Gatomon to start worrying, too.
"What's up?" she asks her human partner.
"Have you seen Ruki and her Digimon lately?" the girl asks in a quiet tone.
"Well, they're not down here and my field of view is... limited." the cat answers.
"Please do me a favour and find Ruki. This must be really hard for her."
Gatomon instantly nods, then frowns.
"How're Lee and Takato doing?" she asks Kari.
"They're playing along. But we really need to find a quiet place soon."
The Digimon nods again and hushes through the jungle of legs.
I hope they're all right. This certainly isn't the best way to deal with her loss.
By now, she has reached the edge of the crowd. Nobody pays the small Digimon any attention.
The bigger Digimon are the center of attention right now.
Gatomon quickly looks over her shoulder to make sure that Ruki and Renamon aren't in there.
Nonsense. Kari wouldn't have called me if they were in there.
So the cat quietly hushes through the corridors of the school building.
What if they've run away? This girl certainly looked cool enough to be a loner.
When her sensitive ears pick up a muffled sob, she slows down.
She turns around a corner and immediately sees the source of the sounds.
Ruki is kneeling in the middle of the corridor, her back turned twoards Gatomon.
The girl's head leans against Renamon's shoulder, with the Digimon kneeling in front of Ruki.
Renamon gently strokes the girl's back and whispers something into her ear.
Finally Renamon notices Gatomon's presence.
Never stopping her stroking and whispering, Renamon stares at Gatomon.
But instead of hate or rage, the cat Digimon sees pure sorrow in the fox's eyes.
Not wanting to disturb them any more, Gatomon just nods and sneaks away again.
After long hours, the crowd finally left them alone, only to be replaced by the worried parents.
That must have been the hardest part for Takato and Lee. Ruki hadn't joined them yet.
Guess it's better that way. It might have broken her heart to see all of this. Gatomon muses.
The parents of the 'old' DigiDestined didn't look too surprised about this whole thing.
Well, they had known about the existence of Digimon for some years now.
It had been a small wonder that they hadn't recognized Gatomon and Patamon earlier.
On the other hand, three years can be quite a long time.
Ken's parents are the most happy couple since their son had been missing before.
Finally the parents realize that Lee and Takato look quite lost and listen to their story.
"And where will you live until you get back home?" Mrs. Kamiya asks them.
There is a long silence after that question since nobody had thought about that part yet.
"Well, we have a free room." Ken's father offers.
"I have plenty of space, so I could offer Takato and his big friend a room." Cody's Grandfather happily says.
"And I guess we could house the girl you have talked about." Kari's mother tells her daughter.
Gatomon snickers when Kari blanches.
"That would be a great idea. But we have to ask Ruki, too." Gatomon quickly answers.
Kari just stares at her smiling Digimon.
"We're pleased by your offer." Renamon's voice cuts off any protest Kari might have raised.
Everybody turns to see the Digimon walking towards them. Ruki is next to her, looking exhausted but confident.
Gatomon, having an eye for body language and such details, notices that Renamon is supporting the girl.
But Ruki looks as arrogant as ever, not willing to show any sign of weakness.
"Perfect. Now come on, it has been quite a long day." Mrs. Kamiya happily shouts.
Everybody nods and starts to leave the school building.
Only Kari stays a bit behind the group to talk to Gatomon.
"All right. What're you up to?" the girl asks, her voice barely a whisper.
"I'm not up to anything." Gatomon replies.
"Then why're you actually inviting this Ice Queen to live-"
"Stop calling her that." Gatomon hisses, her eyes becoming slits.
Kari raises an eyebrow when she notices how serious the Digimon suddenly is.
"O...kay. Sorry. But please promise me not to start any fights."
"Don't worry. I don't think that anybody's in the mood right now."
And with these words, Gatomon joins the group again.
Something has happened. Gatomon has been so quiet after I send her to look for Ruki.
Kari tries to imagine what her Digimon could have seen.
I'll have to ask her tonight. Maybe this Ruki isn't as bad as she behaves.
Nodding, Kari runs a few steps to catch up with the rest.