Author: And here's Chapter 3! Enjoy!

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Some time later, I arrived home. Dad wouldn't be home until 17:00, so it was just Chicomon and me. I walked in the door, removed my shoes, and put my book bag in a nearby chair. I then set Chicomon on the kitchen counter and said, "So, how would you like some lunch?"

Chicomon bounced up and down happily and said, "Yeah! Food!"

I Smiled as I pulled out a box of rice and a pot to cook it in. Aha, the food of a champion! Simple to make, too. I made a lot, because I didn't know how hungry Chicomon was. As I was cooking, Chicomon was looking around the kitchen and dining room (which was part of the kitchen). He would ask me what random things were and what they did. It was actually kind of cute.

It wasn't until the rice was done that I wondered how Chicomon was going to eat it. He didn't have any hands, so he couldn't hold chopsticks. While I was contemplating this, I took two bowls and filled them with rice. Then I grabbed a set of chopsticks and took everything to the table. Chicomon had hopped over there earlier. I set one bowl in front of him, then took a seat. Chicomon immediately shoved his face into the bowl of rice and practically inhaled all his rice. I sweat dropped as I thought well, at least the eating problem is solved.

I spent most of the afternoon teaching Chicomon about different things in the house. After a little incident shortly following lunch, he quickly learned what a toilet was. I also found a place to hide him when Dad got home. I had a feeling that Dad shouldn't know about Chicomon. Same for my sisters.

Dad came home early that day, at about 14:00. Chicomon quickly hid in his hiding place. Dad looked really upset. He said, "Ryo, your school called me today."

Oh man, I thought, I should have known the school would call Dad if I just went home!

But, I didn't say anything. Don't admit to anything until you are accused. Those are the wise words of an old friend. Dad continued, "It seems that, after a fire drill, you didn't go back to class. What did you do?"

"I came home," I answered, trying to sound calm. Dad narrowed his eyes and said, "Ryo, you know that you can't just go home whenever you want. You have to stay in school all day, unless you are too sick to stay. And you definitely shouldn't be going anywhere unless somebody knows where you are going. You could have been kidnapped or something. "

I shrugged. Dad said, "I'm glad you are alright, but you will be punished for this. No computer or television, except for watching the news or using the computer for homework, for a week."

I groaned. Not only had Dad cut me off from my favorite source of entertainment, he had remembered about my project and had made sure that I wouldn't have an excuse not to do it. At that time in life for me, that was adding insult to injury. I said, "Aw, come on Dad! Isn't that a little harsh? I mean, it's not like I was doing drugs or something."

Dad shook his head and said, "The punishment stands. Now, go do your homework."

I sighed, picked up my book bag, and went to my room. I made sure to slam the door behind me. I tossed the book bag on the floor and looked around my room for a moment.

I really liked my room. My bed, which was against the wall to my left, had a green and red blanket and green sheets. My pillow had a green pillowcase, too. There was a medium sized circular rug on the wood floor that had a pattern of spiraling red, blue, and green. There was also a loose board under the rug. That served as my hiding place for all my special things. I thought about hiding Chicomon there at first, but he was too big to fit there. My computer was sitting on a table directly across from the door. The chair, which had my coat hanging on it, was sitting beside it. Behind the computer was a window. To the left of the computer was a door that went to a closet. To the right of the door I had entered my room in was my dresser and bookcase. My bookcase had a small TV, a Play station, and several games. The play station would probably be replaced soon, though, because rumors said that a Play station 2 was coming out soon. There was also a Wonderswan and a couple games on the book shelf. There were also a lot of magazines and a few issues of a manga I liked to read. There were a couple books, but those were few and far between. There were random articles of clothes scattered about my room. I was never a clean kid. The walls of my room, which were white, had several gaming posters on them.

I dropped my book bag into the chair and jumped onto my bed. I landed on my back. Sighing, I said, "Man, this is not fair!"

"What's not fair," Chicomon said as he came out of his hiding spot. He hopped onto my stomach. I said, "My Dad won't let me use the computer for a week."

"Why not," Chicomon asked. I said, "Well, I wasn't supposed to leave school when I did. So, I got in trouble."

Chicomon smiled and said, "Oh, so that's what that place was called? Well, I wouldn't want to stay there, either!"

I chuckled and said, "Well, I don't have much of a choice right now. When I get older, I won't have to go to school. But for now, I have to go every Monday through Saturday. Luckily, I get one day off every week for playing and stuff like that."

Chicomon bounced happily and said, "Let's play now!"

I smiled and sat up. I said, "Alright," then set Chicomon down on my pillow as I got up and went over to my Play station. I said, "I can teach you how to play video games. Dad never said I couldn't play video games."

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The next couple weeks passed by pretty quickly. Chicomon would go to school with me and stay in my locker. I would bring him food at lunch, and he would be quiet until I came back for him at the end of the day. Things worked out for that time.

One day, I decided to stop by the river on my way home. It had been the last day of the school year that day. I had just finished the fourth grade, and I was in a good mood. I thought it would be a good day to teach Chicomon about sand castles. Once there, I set down my bag carefully (Chicomon was in there) and said, "How would you like to learn about sand castles, Chicomon?"

Chicomon replied weakly, "I'm not feeling to good, Ryo…."

This worried me. I quickly opened my bad and pulled Chicomon out. He did look kinda sick. He was a bit lighter in color than usual, and he had a sad look on his face. I said, "Chicomon! What's wrong?!"

"I...dunno…," Chicomon responded, "I think it might have been something I ate…"

I silently cursed the school food. Then, I pulled a water bottle out of my bag while I said, "Well, don't worry. Here, drink some water. It'll make you feel better."

Chicomon latched onto the water bottle and began to drink. As he did so, he began to glow. Then, he grew a little bigger. When the glowing stopped, Chicomon didn't look like Chicomon anymore. He now had more than a head, though his head was still the biggest part of his body. He had a little body now, with little arms and legs. He was mostly blue, but he had a small spot of white on his stomach. And his head, which was now round, had little ears sticking out of it. He stopped drinking and said, "Wow, I do feel better!"

His voice had changed as well. It had been high pitched before. Now it sounded a little lower than before, though it was still kinda high for a boy. I just stared at him for a moment, then said, "You ch.changed!"

Chicomon looked down at his body. He then jumped up and said, "Woah, I did change! I'm Chibimon now!"

"Chibimon," I said thoughtfully. Chibimon nodded and said, "Yeah, I digivolved!"

"That's so cool," I said, "Do you think you will digivolve anymore?"

"Probably," Chibimon said, "Digimon digivolve quite a few times in their life. Now, what were you saying about building a sand castle?"

I began building a sand castle. Chibimon watched intently. When I finished, he said, "That's a sand castle?"

I nodded. Chibimon said, "That's so cool!"

Then he began to build his own sand castle. I smiled as I watched him. As he built, he said, "Can we go swimming too?"

I said, "Sure."

By that time, I was very busy thinking about what we would do the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that.

By that time, I had already forgotten about the peril in the Digital world.

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For several months, nothing really happened. Chibimon hadn't digivolve again, though he had grown stronger. I started the fifth grade two weeks after Chicomon digivolved to Chibimon. My eleventh birthday passed as well. It was now July, and I was out of school for the summer. It was July 31st, to be exact. The importance of that won't come until later.

By this time, things had changed quite a bit. Dad had gotten a promotion at work. That meant that he would be traveling overseas five different weeks of the year, and I would be staying with Mom, her boyfriend, Anya, and Claire. One of those weeks just happened to be this week.

It was difficult to smuggle Chibimon into the house. I had hidden him in my book bag, which had a few things that I would need from my house. But, the bag was waterproof, so I had to leave the zipper open a little bit so that Chibimon could breathe. Dad dropped me off at Mom's house, and decided to chat for a while with Mom's boyfriend.

Mom's boyfriend talked with Dad for a while, then glanced at my bag. I stiffened, worried that he had discovered Chibimon. He said, "Ryo, your bag is open."

I sighed in relief, then began to freak. If I closed my bag, Chibimon wouldn't have any air. If I didn't, Mom's boyfriend would figure out that something was up, then check my bag and find Chibimon. So, I closed my bag, hoping that the conversation would be short.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. Dad and Mom's boyfriend talked for quite some time. It was strained talk, that's for sure. The tension was so think that you could cut it with a knife. I think that the only reason that they were still talking was because they wanted to get the better of each other in front of me. It wasn't really helping me, that's for sure.

After ten minutes, I heard muffled breathing struggling coming from my bag. Chibimon was about to be suffocated. I was so worried that I yelled out, "Oh no!"

Dad and Mom's boyfriend turned and stared at me. I quickly said, "I really gotta pee, or I'll pee my pants!"

Then, I quickly ran inside the house and to my room. Actually, it was the guest bedroom, but I used it whenever I stayed there. It was pretty nice. There was blue stuff all over. Blue sheets, blue walls, blue everything. I think my Mom really liked blue.

I quickly opened up the bag, and Chibimon burst out, breathing heavily. I sweat dropped and said, "Sorry, Chibimon! Mom's boyfriend noticed, and I had to shut the bag."

After he caught his breath, Chibimon said, "it's alright. Just…give me some warning next time."

The first couple days went by without any suspicion. A problem arose, though. Chibimon ate almost as much as another person, and I had to constantly sneak to the kitchen to get him food. Mom eventually noticed, and she told her boyfriend. He brought it up at dinner one night. "A lot of food has been disappearing," He said, "Now, if one of you sneaked another pet into the house, you better come forward now. If you do, punishment will be light."

"Wasn't me," Claire said as she ate some pork, "I haven't tried that since that time I brought a cat home."

"I've been too busy to have a pet," Anya replied simply. Everyone looked to me, and I said, "Nope. No pets here."

It was the truth. Chibimon was my partner, not my pet. Mom's boyfriend said, raising his voice slightly, "When I find out who it is…."

Mom put a hand on his arm and said, "Chou, please calm down."

Mom's boyfriend, Chou, moved his arm away from Mom and went back to eating. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. After dinner, I went to my room and sat on my bed. Chibimon came out of his hiding spot and said, "Was it bad? I heard voices get louder."

"It wasn't that bad," I said, "Mom just found out about the missing food."

I then looked over to the calendar on the wall. Only two more days until Dad returned. Then, I would be able to go home.

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End Chapter 3. Like so far?