A Tamer's Story: Learning to Heal
Chapter 2: Dealing with Death
Ryo was the apple of his parents' eye. His mother, Aya loved astronomy and when he was about five she would bring him outside in the middle of the night to teach him the constellations and about the stories behind them. She offered him the history and workings of the universe and he breathed it in. Those sessions would usually last for about an hour and a half every night.
His father, Sasuke, disapproved of the whole thing. Ryo knew it too. He'd hear them fighting at night. Sometimes he'd lay there and listen to it, other times he'd crawl out onto the overhang under his window and watch the stars on their course along the heavens.
One night they had an extremely bad fight. Ryo was watching the stars up on the roof as he often did when a crash came from the hallway outside his door. He crept back into his room and opened the door a crack to see what was going on.
"I am so sick of this Aya! That boy is a sissy because of you. You've really messed him up with all this 'star talk' of yours."
"Sasuke. It's only a hobby-"
"I want a divorce!"
"What? A divorce? Just because I'm teaching him about astronomy? That is stupid."
"It's not just the stupid stars. I'm sick of your attitude when it comes to his upbringing! You think your way is the only way. You filled his head with stars, stories and a disliking of sports."
"Just because he's a boy you think he has to love sports just like you. If I'd had a daughter you wouldn't care if she learned about the stars."
"Get out! And take that wimp of a boy out of here too!" He yelled throwing a vase at Aya.
"You're throwing us out?!"
"I can't live with you anymore."
"Why don't you leave?"
"This house is in my name, that's why."
"I can't believe I even married you in the first place!" She screamed.
"I know why. It's because of that child of yours. You roped me in with him. I could have been happy if it wasn't for him. I probably wouldn't have married you then."
"You know what? Shove it you asshole! We aren't getting thrown out, we're leaving of our own will." She yelled and turned to enter Ryo's room.
That's when she noticed him standing there.
"Ryo!" She said in shock. After a second she steadied her voice and grabbed the boy's hand. "I was just coming to surprise you. You're birthday's tomorrow, and I have a great way to spend your last night as a five-year-old. I'm taking you to the planetarium. Get dressed quick or we'll miss the show."
Instead of saying anything he just threw some clothes on and came back out with a forced grin. The two of them went to the planetarium for a show, then went to the telescope to watch the lunar eclipse with a couple of other people who were there. The eclipse was completed at midnight. His mother whispered a 'happy birthday' to him and shortly after the eclipse started to fade.
They'd gotten into the car and were leaving the parking lot of the planetarium when a car without it's lights on drove head on into them. The driver's side of their car was nearly completely demolished. Ryo had been on the other side of the car in the backseat. The car that hit them, though crumpled a bit in the front, sped off into the darkness.
"Mom. I'm scared...Mom?" Ryo said as he watched the car speed off.
He looked in her direction and called her name several more times, but she wasn't answering. She just sat slumped over the driver's wheel. That's when the fire started. Ryo panicked and tried to unbuckle the belt, but it wouldn't unfasten so he started to cry out for help.
A man came running. He'd been locking up the building when he heard Ryo's screaming, then saw the car on fire. The man cut off Ryo's seatbelt and carried him to the side of the building. The man ran back for Ryo's mother, but she was surrounded by fire and the door was smashed into the frame. The man ran back to the building as the car exploded into more flames as the fire got into the gas tank.
"MOMMY!" Ryo screamed and passed out seconds later.
He woke up a couple days later in the hospital with his leg in a cast. He looked around and found his father sitting in a chair.
"Where's mom?" Ryo asked his father, Sasuke.
"She's dead." He said harshly.
Ryo stared in shock at his father, who was getting out a set of clothes for Ryo to put on.
"Since you're up, we're going home. I'm not going to spend a fortune on you laying in a bed." He said throwing the clothes at Ryo.
A nurse entered at that moment to check on Ryo.
"Sir, he cannot leave. We have to monitor him. He inhaled a lot of smoke before he was rescued, plus with a broken leg he'd be too much for you to handle by yourself." The nurse said.
"I am his father! I choose what is right for my son not--"
"Sir, calm down. It is in his best interest for him to stay here--"
"In his best interest? All you people want is for me to spend the better part of my life paying this extravagant bill off!"
It took two nurses and a doctor, along with the help of a sedative, to convince him to let Ryo stay in the hospital. While in the hospital Ryo got gifts from various relatives. They were all stuffed animals and coloring books, except for one gift. There was no name on the gift wrapped box. Inside was a starter pack of Digimon Cards and about a dozen booster packs. He immediately took the cards and did what the pictures illustrated, seeing as he couldn't read very much yet having only just turned six. He wouldn't put the cards down except for when he had to eat, sleep and use the restroom.
After about three weeks they let him go home, and even then he barely put the cards down. When he was aloud to go back to school, he even brought them with him to play with during recess. Now the cards had only just come out the year before and weren't quite widespread with popularity yet. Ryo didn't really have many friends because he was quite shy, and he'd practice by himself.
Shortly after he started bringing them other kids would gather around and watch him in curiosity to see what he was doing, and every day the gathering would get bigger and bigger. One day, an older boy challenged him.
"Hey, I challenge you to a Card-Battle." The older boy, Pretz, who was infamous around the school as being the best at everything.
"Against you? I've never played against anyone before." Ryo replied.
A smile crossed Pretz's face.
"Really? Well if I win I get any card of yours I want. And if you win-" He said. Several of his friends snickered. "-you get one of my cards. I warn you though, it isn't very likely you'll win."
"I'll play you." Ryo said pulling out his cards and kneeling down on one side of the bench. Pretz did likewise on the other side.
The battle then ensued. The crowd of students became larger with every passing second, until all of them were watching. As it neared an ending Pretz was sweating bullets and Ryo wasn't even braking a sweat at all. Pretz laid down his last card with a grin. It was his best card. Ryo slowly put down his last card and Pretz's jaw dropped.
"I-I can't believe you lost." One of Pretz's friends said in shock.
"So which one do you want." Pretz said dejectedly as he spread his cards out.
"Are you sure that you want me to take one?" Ryo asked.
"It was our deal."
Ryo made a move and took one of Pretz's weakest cards.
"Most people would have taken my most powerful, why didn't you?" He said gathering his remaining cards up.
"I like this one and I didn't have it yet. And, if I took your really good one it wouldn't be a challenge to play you again."
"You're pretty smart, kid. What's your name?"
"Ryo Akiyama."
Pretz looked at his friends, who nodded as if they knew what he was thinking.
"You are entering the Tournament, aren't you?"
"What tournament?"
"You never heard of the Digimon Card-Battle Tournament? Well, now you have. You should enter. You've got natural skills."
"I don't know..." Ryo said putting his cards away.
"Tell ya what. You're gonna battle my friends too. If either of them win I'll drop it, but if you beat both of them, you enter. That's the deal instead of trading a card afterwards."
"Okay."
Ryo then went on to play against Pretz's two friends, both of whom he beat rather easily. After school that day, the three older boys walked him to the signup desk to enter him in the tournament.
"The four of us are entering." Pretz said.
The woman at the counter took the names of the three older boys then looked over at Ryo.
"How old are you?"
"Six."
"I'm sorry. But there is an age limit. You have to be at least eight to enter."
"What?! But he's the best player we know!" Pretz complained.
"I'm sorry, but rules are rules."
"I demand to talk to Mr. Sutaa! He made up the rules!" Pretz yelled banging his fist on the table.
"That's not possible. Now, you'd better leave peacefully or I'll remove your names from the list. I know you wouldn't want that Pretz, especially as the reigning champion."
"Fine. We will leave, but first could I please talk to him? I'm sure that if he met our young friend here, he'd allow him to enter." Pretz said calmly.
"I'm sorry but you can't. Many have come with young prodigies as you claim to have and he has denied every one of them."
"I see." Pretz said. "Well you see, my father is that man. I wish to speak with him."
"No. It's okay. I'll just wait until I'm eight." Ryo said nervously.
"Then you should know the age limit. He said not to let anyone bother him." The woman said.
"What's all the commotion going on out here?" A man yelled as the door behind the woman flew open.
"Mr. Sutaa, I was just telling these kids that the age rule is nonnegotiable."
"Dad, my friend here is really good, but he's just slightly below the age limit. He beat me and my homies. He deserves to be in it. Plus, he's quite honorable. He could have taken any card after beating me and he took an Agumon, one of the most common cards out there."
"He beat you? You? The winner from last year?" Mr. Sutaa said in shock as he looked from his son, then to Ryo. "Hmm. Miss Nekoi, he is to be entered, and the age limit lowered to his age. Put an announcement out that the age has now been lowered."
"But, Sir!-" She started, but his face told her that it was final. "Yes, sir." She said defeatedly and took down Ryo's name.
Two weeks later the Second Annual Digimon Card-Battle Tournament took place and Ryo was declared the winner after beating everyone he came across, including Pretz again. He showed his father the card and medal he won as prizes that night.
"I won the tournament dad! I beat everyone. Look. I got a medal and a rare, halo Azulongmon card! I can't believe it!" Ryo said excitedly showing off his prizes to his father who was watching a sports game.
Sasuke took the card and looked it over.
"You're excited about a shiny piece of cardboard with a cartoon of a dragon on it and a piece of yellow plastic?"
"It's not just cardboard and plastic." Ryo said taking it back from his father. "It's a rare card for a collection and an award, just like your baseball cards and sports trophies."
"Those are the kinds of things you should be interested in. Besides, you probably won by accident." Sasuke said and turned his attention back to a game on TV.
Ryo was hurt. He had been so excited about all of it, and his father had shot him down. The six-year-old went into his room and looked out the window at the stars which were coming out.
"Did you see me win mom? Are you proud of me?" He asked the stars.
A few stars twinkled and a meteor raced across the sky. Tears formed in Ryo's eyes. To him that was a sign from his mother that she was proud of him.
"Thanks, mom." He said with a smile and tucked his new card away in a binder with several other cards.
With that done, he crawled into bed and dreamed sweet dreams.
Ryo entered every tournament after that and won every for the past six years. It was now going to be his seventh tournament. Over the course of his career as winner he'd gained the title of the Legendary Tamer. Everyone forgot about the one who had been the winner in the first tournament, Pretz. Pretz and his friends, who'd first started him in the tournament, had lost interest in the card game.
Ryo had given up after that one time to show his father that he was good at something. He didn't even have to say anything afterwards anymore. When he'd come home after a tournament his father would ask if he won. After Ryo's answer that he had Sasuke would just scoff and say how pathetic Ryo was to be so interested in cartoons drawn on cards and how he should just grow up.
Anyway, Ryo had just signed up for the Eighth Annual Tournament when he noticed a red-headed firecracker in a school uniform enter. He watched as she pushed her way through several kids who were just standing around talking and went over to the sign-up desk. He watched her in interest as she told the receptionist her name.
After she'd finished signing up she glared at Ryo, then walked over to him.
"You're that 'Legendary Tamer' jerk aren't you?" She asked him.
"That's what people call me. And by the way, I'm no jerk Miss..." Ryo said with a smile
Instead of supplying him with her name she only narrowed her eyes.
"I'm going to beat the pants off of you Pretty-Boy." She said, then turned and left.
He watched her leave then went over to the receptionist.
"Ma'am, who was that that just left?"
The receptionist looked at the list.
"Ruki Makino." The receptionist said. "Why?"
Ruki Makino. Could she be the challenge I've been thirsting for? Ryo thought to himself
"Not any reason really." He said with a little laugh.
"She is kinda cute." The receptionist smiled
"Huh? No it's not that. I've just got a feeling that I should remember her. That's all." The thirteen-year-old said
Next Chapter: The Eighth Annual Digimon Card-Battle Tournament! Find out what happens after the legendary card-battle tournament.