Author: And here's chapter 4! Enjoy!

Note: Shinta and Yutaro are two random Japanese names I pulled out of my ass. This is not a crossover. Ditto for the name Chou.

Warning: Child abuse in this chapter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day was the worst day of my life, sans those few weeks before I got banished. It was going to rain later in the day, so I was going to take Chibimon to the park before the rain. As I was getting dressed, Chibimon was sitting on the bed looking at some pictures. About a moth before that, Chibimon and I had gotten a disposable camera and took some pictures of us at the park. There were some of us swinging, some of Chibimon playing on the slide, and some of us on the jungle gym. There was one rally cool one of Chibimon and I hanging upside-down on the monkey bars. It was tilted slightly sideways, because I had to hold the camera out at arms length to take the picture. That one was my favorite, so I stuck it in my pocket when I got done getting dressed.

Today, I was wearing an orange sweater and green pants. Don't ask me why I was wearing a sweater in summer, because I don't know why. I grabbed my bag, Chibimon inside, and went out to the living room. I told my Mom I was going to the park, then went out the door.

Chibimon and I had a fun time at the park. He liked the slides the best. We played for several hours, and we had a lot of fun.

Then, a couple of my friends came to the park. Chibimon quickly hid in my bag, and I went to talk to them. The first one, a blue-haired kid named Yutaro, said, "Hey Ryo! How've you been?"

"Fine and dandy," I said, falling into my "too cool to be real" façade, "How have you three been?"

"Alright," the second, a black haired boy named Shinta said, "It's just been boring. Man, we need action around here!"

The third boy, a blonde named Andrew, was silent. His family had just moved here from France, and he didn't speak Japanese well. But, he and I chatted in French whenever none of our other friends were around. (My parents didn't divorce until I was six, So I had learned French from my mom at a young age.) Andrew was a tad embarrassed about it, though, so he didn't speak French when our other friends were around.

I said, "Well, what should we do?"

Shinta and Yutaro said, at the same time, "Soccer!"

I smirked. These two were soccer fanatics, and they played soccer every chance they had. Andrew said, " I would like play soccer too."

I smiled at him and was about to agree, but then it began to rain. I said, "Aw man! I have to go home now."

"But Ryo," Shinta said, carrying out the o five extra syllables, "Soccer is fun to play in the rain!"

"I know," I said, "But I'm staying at my Mom's right now, and her boyfriend would get mad if I got these clothes muddy."

"Alright," Yutaro said in a resentful tone. Andrew smiled at me and said, "Have good afternoon, Ryo-kun."

I left the park, heading for home. The rain began to pick up, and I ran faster. I reached home not a second too late. But, only danger waited for me inside that door.

As soon as I had gone inside and slipped off my shoes, a voice from the living room called, "Ryo! Get in her now!"

It was Chou, my Mom's boyfriend. His voice was full of menace. I set my bag down and precariously walked into the living room, not knowing what to expect. Chou was standing up by the coffee table, an angry look on his face. Mom was sitting on the couch, trying her best not to make eye contact with anyone. Anya and Claire were nowhere to be found. At first I didn't understand what was going on. Then, I cast a glance at the coffee table. There were several pictures on it.

Oh god, I thought, I forgot to put the pictures away this morning!

Chou noticed me looking at the pictures, so he said, "Care to explain this?"

I thought over my words carefully before I said anything. He was already pretty pissed, and saying the wrong thing would only make things worse. After a moment, I said, "Well, those are pictures of me and Chibimon."

"Chibimon," Chou said, sounding spiteful, "Is that the name of this…pet?"

He practically spat out the last word. I answered, "No, Chibimon isn't a pet. He's my digimon partner."

Chou glared at me and his voice went up a little when he said, "I don't chare what he is! He's a pet, and I won't tolerate pets in my house!"

I glared back at him as I said, "who made you boss of the world? And this isn't your house, either."

Chou backhanded me for that remark. I stumbled back a bit, more surprised than hurt. My cheek did sting a tad, but I was more worried about Chibimon than myself. Chou said, "I will not tolerate being insulted in my own house!"

My mom stood up then and said, "Chou, please…."

Chou slapped her and said, "Sit down, bitch! I wasn't talking to you!"

I lost it then. I had seen the bruises on my Mom's arms before, but I'd never actually seen her get hit. And, he had called this house "his house" again. That in itself pissed me off. It caused me to go over the edge. I yelled, "Who do think you are?! You can't just go hit my Mom for no reason! And this isn't your house! It's Mom's! You're just a freeloader who lives off Mom!"

Chou turned back to me, and the look he gave me scared me a bit. That look was full of malice and hate. Chou walked up to me and punched me in the face. The punch knocked me back into the wall that separated the doorway from the living room. Then, he grabbed me around the front of my shirt and held me about a foot off the ground. He then glared at me and said, "You think you're hot shit, don't you. Well, I'll teach you whose the boss around here!"

Then, he wrapped his arms around my neck and tried to strangle me. I struggled to get free from his grip as I was slowly running out of air. I kicked the wall several times in my attempt. I remember faintly hearing my Mom call out for him to stop, but that didn't help. If anything, it made Chou tighten his grip on my neck.

I thought I was a dead guy then and there. My lungs were screaming for air. I was loosing the strength to struggle, and everything was getting blurry. Then, everything started turning black.

Then, all the pain suddenly disappeared. The next thing I knew, I was laying on the floor, and somebody, probably Chou, was screaming. My lungs then burned as fresh air went into them. My sight gradually returned, and I could see what had happened. Chibimon had gotten out of my bag when he heard me kicking the wall. He saw what was going on, and attacked Chou instantly. Now, he was latched onto Chou's arm, biting as hard as he could as Chou flailed his arm in an attempt to get Chibimon to let go. As soon as I was strong enough to, I stood up, resting my back against the wall for support, and called out, "Chibimon! Stop!"

Chibimon immediately let go and jumped into my arms. Chou looked at his bleeding arm, then at Chibimon. He then tried to grab Chibimon out of my arms, saying something about, "Teaching that blue rat a lesson."

I refused to let go. He punched me in the stomach a few times, but I wouldn't let go. Then, he gave up and walked to the kitchen. I took this time to make my way to the front door and slip my shoes on. I threw my bag into the bushes first, knowing that I wasn't strong enough to carry it and run at the same time, and I would have to come back for it. Just as I walked out the door, I heard Chou come back. Chibimon, who had been hanging onto my arm, said, "Ryo, look out!"

I turned just as Chou tried to stab Chibimon with a butcher knife. So, instead of stabbing Chibimon, he stabbed me. In the left side.

Chou, who had apparently not meant to stab me, quickly pulled out the knife. I, being too weak to stand anymore, fell down the front stairs and landed on my uninjured side. Nobody moved for a second. Then, Chibimon said, "Ryo," as he jumped off me and landed by my head, "Ryo! Please, answer me!"

I flinched in pain as I reached around my waist with my right and felt the wound. It stung when I touched it, and it was bleeding profusely. I remember hearing my Mom scream, and Chou telling her to shut up. But, those things felt distant, unimportant. The only thing I was really focused on was Chibimon. He looked at me worriedly and said, "Ryo, please say that you'll be alright…."

I said, "Chi..Chibimon…."

Chibimon whimpered and curled up next to me, right below my chin. He said, "I'm not gonna leave you, Ryo."

I used my left arm to pull him closer to my chest in a weird half-hug. By now, the rain was pouring down, and we were both soaked. The rain and my blood were mixing into a gross opaque liquid that was running down the cracks in the sidewalk. I thought, Is this how I'm destined to die? It can't be…

Then, I felt a white light surround me, and all my pain disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing I remember is being in a warm bed. I kept my eyes closed for a moment, wanting the warmth to engulf me. But, I knew I had to get up eventually. So, I opened my eyes and glanced around. I quickly found Chibimon; he was laying next to my side that was injured. After I found him, I looked at the room. This room I was in looked almost like a hospital room. Everything was white or off-white. There wasn't any of that electrical stuff, though. Just the bed, a door, and a chair that was currently being occupied by a man that looked to be very old. He looked eerily familiar, though. He looked as though he was sleeping.

I sat up and grimaced as I felt pain return to my left side. I looked down and noticed that the stab wound was bandaged up. Thick gauze was wrapped around my waist area, and it felt especially thick at the spot where I had gotten stabbed. I also noticed that my shirt had been removed, probably so that they could bandage me up. I looked to the edge of my bed and saw that it was there; it had even been cleaned and sewed up. My shoes and bag were beside the bed as well.

The man noticed me, looked up, and said, "Well, it's about time you woke up. You've been asleep for almost four days."

"Sorry," I said, "I guess I was more exhausted than I thought."

I stopped. After studying the man for a moment, I said, "You look familiar…have we met?"

"Well of course we have," the man said, "I am Gennai."

I stared at this guy who claimed to be Gennai for a moment, then said, "There's no way you can be Gennai. I met Gennai a few months ago, and he was much younger than you."

"True," the man said, "But, the time in the Digital world flows a lot faster than in the real world. Years have passed. That is why I look much older than I was."

I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, but I decided to believe him. He did look a little bit like Gennai. And I guessed that anything was possible. It was then that Chibimon woke up. He looked at me, smiled and bounced up and down as he said, "Yay! Yay! You're awake!"

I said, "Woah, calm down, Chibimon!"

Gennai simply laughed and said, "He seems hyper. That's a good thing, too. You'll need a lot of energy to survive until the chosen children arrive."

I looked at Gennai and said, "Chosen children?"

"Yes, chosen children. They are a bit different from you. While they are only needed to guard the crests and give their power to their digimon to aid them in the digivolve process, a lot more will be expected of you. You'll be expected to learn a lot of magic spells, and you'll have to fight alongside your digimon on some occasions."

I nodded at this. Then, I said, "Sweet! Magic? That'll be awesome! Will I be able to do things like make fire?"

Gennai held up his hands and said, "Hold on there. It will take you some time to learn all that stuff. First off, you have to heal. As soon as you are done healing, then your learning shall begin."

I sighed and said, "Alright."

Then, a thought came to me. I said, "Hey Gennai, if the chosen children are coming, why do you need me?"

"Things are very bad now," Gennai answered, "Even worse than before. The chosen children won't be here for at least another year, and we need all the help we can get in suppressing the evil until they get here."

Somehow, I liked this idea. After all, I had always wanted to have an adventure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It didn't take me long to heal. But, I'll always have a scar on my left side. Just as Gennai promised, my learning began right after I was done healing. Though, there wasn't much teaching by a teacher. As it turns out, Gennai was a firm believer in the saying "experience is the best teacher." So, I was only taught the bare basics, then I was left to develop them as I saw fit.

I remember that day well. Actually, I laugh at the memory. Gennai took me and Chibimon out to a rice field by a digimon village. Once there, he said, "Alright, here we are."

I looked around and said, "Ok, what now?"

Gennai smiled and tossed me a small device. Then, he said, "Here is your digivice. Now, you are on your own," and disappeared.

I stared at the place where Gennai had stood for a moment, then freaked out and yelled, "That's it?! But..hey! What do I do now?!"

Of course, he didn't answer. Chibimon said, "I think we're on our own."

And that's how things began. Lots of stuff happened after that. I learned how to get along in the digital world pretty well, and my powers increased greatly. I even learned a little bit of kendo. The reaction the digimon in villages gave me took a while to get used to. None of the digimon were used to seeing humans, and they all stared at me. All the time. Well, for the first couple years, at least.

Not much happened for about a year. I just got stronger, as did Chibimon. But, he hadn't digivolved to the next level yet. We had been in a fair amount of battles, though, and he proved to be quite a fighter. Then, one day, we crossed paths with a digimon called Gazimon. We were walking on a trail through the forest, when we saw him up ahead. The Gazimon eyed us, then smirked as he said, "Well, what do you know. I was sent to destroy a human kid with a Chibimon, and I find him on the first day of my search. It must be my lucky day."

I looked to Chibimon and said, "You ready?"

Chibimon nodded, and we stood in a ready stance, waiting for the Gazimon to attack. It launched itself at me, claws extended. I jumped out of the way and cast a fireball at it. The Gazimon howled in pain as it turned to face me. It jumped at me again, and this time it hit me, knocking me into a tree. It's claws had hit me in the shoulder, causing me to flinch in pain. Chibimon saw that I was in danger and tried to attack the Gazimon with his pop attack (1), but it didn't work. Things didn't look too good. Gazimon was just too powerful. Of course, now that I look back on it, it was kinda pathetic. I mean, Gazimon was only a rookie digimon, and he was kicking our tails. But, everything is obvious in hindsight.

Anyways, back to the point. I was about to get annihilated by this Gazimon, and Chibimon was too weak to help me. It was then, in this moment of helplessness, that my digivice activated. It caused Chibimon to digivolve to his rookie form, V-mon. Then things were a little more even. V-mon took out this Gazimon with one kick. I was pretty impressed at his newfound strength. Gazimon's code went off to Primary village, where it would become a digimon once again. Only it'd be good this time.

After V-mon digivolved, we didn't have much problems. About four years passed, and by then we were a pretty strong team. One thing that is worth pointing out is that I did not age during those four years. Gennai pointed out, in one of his rare messages that he would send us, that My body was still "in tune" with the real world. So, my aging process was controlled by that time frame. So, basically, in four years, I'd only aged about a day.

During those four years, I had aged quite a bit mentally. I acted in a more adult manner now; I thought things through before acting, and I now treated everyone with patience and caring. Well, everyone who was good, that is.

Those four years eventually passed by, and then it happened. I probably could have avoided banishment easily if this didn't happen. If this had not happened, I might not have done the things I did. That day is still imprinted on me and will always remain with me.

That day is the day I met Ichijouji Ken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1): I couldn't remember Chibimon's Japanese attack, so I used his English attack.