Last Week: While Davis, TK, and Ken contemplated the existence of a Digimon Card Game, they were paid a visit by Resident Director Layla Mackenzie, who introduced the floor's RA's…Tai and Matt. After those intros, the guys decided to make a call to Kari and Yolei for dinner. Before Yolei went to dinner, she got to meet her new roommate, Catherine from France, and invited her along. Kari left to dinner also while Jeri took Guilmon out and Rika took a walk. With the girls' room empty, Gatomon and Renamon had a tense reunion…that resulted in a catfight…and both Digimon falling out the window. Kazu and Kenta arrived, but Henry quickly walked them out when Jeri and Guilmon showed up in Takato's room unexpectedly. Once Jeri convinced Takato to let Guilmon stay, Takato took Jeri out to dinner at the university's cafeteria. And then we met one of our story's villains: The Digimon Empress.


Digimon: The College Years

Episode 4- Dinner Time!


Davis looked over his shoulder to see that TK and Ken were sitting at a pretty big table that was enough to seat everyone who was about to show up, with room to spare. Davis, of course, had yet to get his dinner. And he had plenty to choose from in this cafeteria known as The Den. But experience was setting in at this point. Davis would never forget the cafeterias he had encountered in his lifetime and the food tasted HORRENDOUS. So Davis was sure to be careful. He wanted to eat dinner…not lose his lunch. Before Davis could make his choice, however, a pair of hands covered his eyes.

"Guess who?"

Davis thought about that. "Um…Ken? Your voice has changed."

Davis turned around and saw Kari holding a tray of food. And she didn't look amused.

"Very funny, Davis," she said dryly. "Are you ready to eat?"

Davis poured himself a bowl of soup to go with his salad. "Oh yeah! We're sitting over here. Let's go."

Davis escorted Kari towards the table, which was located by the door. He had to admit, whatever scent Kari was wearing was driving him wild. He wanted to reach over and give her a quick peck on the cheek. But Davis mistimed his steps and ended up clumsily tripping over a spilled meatball.

The tray flew forward, as did the salad and soup that was on top of it. And unfortunately, The Den's door just happened to open at that moment. And the salad and soup ended up falling on top of some poor hapless soul's head. And that hapless soul just happened to be…

"HEY!"

…Takato.

Davis timidly inched towards Takato and pulled a lettuce leaf out from over his forehead. "Um…hey Takato! S-Sorry about this." He grinned sheepishly. "But…look at it this way. This makes a good appetizer at least."

Takato audibly snarled as he cleared some salad from atop his head. He looked like he was ready to explode, but the girl that was with him was desperately trying to calm him down.

"Takato…it was an accident. He didn't mean anything."

Kari walked up to Davis's side. "Hi Jeri!"

The girl turned around and smiled. "Oh, hi Kari!"

Kari made the introduction. "Davis, I want you to meet my roommate, Jeri."

Jeri made her own introduction. "Takato, I want you to meet my roommate, Kari."

Then both girls wanted to introduce their guys. "And we want you to meet…"

"We met!" Takato cut them off sharply.

"C-Chill out, dude!" Davis stammered. "It was an accident."

"You seem to have a lot of those, don't you?" Takato growled.

Silence.

Jeri sweatdropped and started to lead Takato away. "Uh…come on, Takato. Let's go eat. I'll see you later, Kari. Nice meeting you, Davis."

Davis waved dimwittedly. "Nice meeting you, Jeri."

Davis was ready to go sit at the table now. But he froze when he saw Takato shooting him one more cold glare. Davis stood still until Kari started leading him towards the table.

"I see you two haven't quite gotten off on the right foot," Kari noted.

"That'd be an understatement," Davis said grimly. "But Takato just hasn't seen the most charming side of me yet."

Kari sweatdropped. "I shudder to think what would happen if he truly saw the most charming side of you. Look…maybe it isn't so bad. I mean…it can't be any worse than how I've had it with my other roommate."

Davis blinked. "Other roommate? I thought you only had one."

"It's a long story," Kari sighed. "I'll tell you just as soon as we sit down."

Kari led Davis over to the table and sat down with their friends. Yolei hadn't arrived just yet and TK and Ken looked concerned. Obviously, they saw what went down.

"Davis…don't tell me that was Takato," Ken groaned.

"Ok, I won't tell you."

TK shook his head. "I don't think you're endearing yourself to him."

That got Kari's curiosity up. "Just how many times HAVE you bumped into him?"

Davis hesitated. "Um…………hey Ken, is that a meatball?"

TK shook his head again. "I hope getting along has been easier for you, Kari."

Kari also hesitated. "Oh…yeah…you know me. It's impossible to hate me. Heh…heh…"

"Has anyone seen Yolei?" Ken asked.

That was enough to change the subject and get everyone looking around the cafeteria for Yolei, who had yet to show up. But it didn't take long.

"Hi guys!" Yolei said cheerfully. She came and was about to sit next to Ken, but stayed on her feet.

"What's wrong?" Ken asked curiously.

Yolei waved over to someone. "Come on! Don't be shy!"

Davis turned his head to see a very attractive young girl with blond locks and a red dress. If he wasn't so smitten with Kari, then he would have been tempted. But no one was more taken by her appearance then TK.

Yolei smiled. "Guys, I want you to meet my roommate…"

"Catherine?" TK finished.

Yolei blinked. "How…did you know that?"

Catherine gasped. "TK? Is that you?"

TK nodded. "I can't believe it! What are you doing here?"

"I'm an exchange student! I'm coming here for the year!"

"Really? That's great! Wow! You really grew up!"

"So did you!"

"Time out!" Kari said almost impatiently. "Does someone want to fill the rest of us in as to what's going on?"

TK smiled. "Ok, Kari. But you might want to take a seat. This might take a while…"

Impmon never felt so alone. He still had the baseball in his hands and he bounced it along the sewer pipe. He didn't think he'd miss everyone so much, but not having Renamon or the humans around left Impmon feeling…rather lonely.

He still couldn't believe that Renamon didn't tell him everyone was leaving until the very last second. He thought they were his friends. Of course, after everything he had done in his past, Impmon couldn't blame any of them for running out on him. He didn't deserve to have friends like them.

Impmon tossed the ball off the pipe, but on the way back, the ball flew over his shoulder. He went over to retrieve it, but when he found it, it was in the hands of a friend.

"Hi! Wanna play?"

It was little Calumon. The baseball was almost the size of his head. Of course, the smile on his face was pretty big along with his ears. Calumon loved coming around to play. What surprised Impmon was that he thought the little childlike Digimon had left with Rika or Jeri.

"I ain't in the mood," Impmon said casually. He sat down and put his head in his hands. "I'm pretty down in the dumps right now."

Calumon bounced over and sat next to Impmon. "What's the matter?"

Impmon decided to get a question out of the way. "Did Renamon or Terriermon or any of those guys tell you they were going away?"

Calumon's smile faded and his ears shrunk. "Uh huh. I said I was gonna miss them. Are they already gone?"

"Yeah, probably. Renamon didn't tell me until a little while ago."

Calumon's face fell. "What are we gonna do without them?"

Impmon didn't know how to answer that. But then a thought hit him. He decided to shrug off his self-pity and do something about this. He got to his feet and, for the first time in years, started walking out of the sewer pipe. Calumon quickly caught up to him.

"Where are you going, Impmon?" Calumon asked curiously.

"Going for a trip," Impmon answered. "You coming?"

Calumon's face lit up. "You mean it? I can really come with you?"

"Just don't get too cute on me," Impmon said. "But yeah, let's get out of this dump. Never liked it here anyway."

"But where are we going?"

Impmon grinned mischievously. "To a new life."

Henry sat down and looked over Kazu and Kenta's Digimon cards. "You guys have new cards? And you didn't even bother to tell me or Takato."

"We thought we'd surprise you," Kazu grinned. "You'd never see it coming."

"Yeah, we don't want to be the only guys still losing to you two," Kenta added.

Henry's face fell. "And just what is THAT supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Henry," Kazu sighed. "You guys were great back in the day, but when it comes to the card game…you guys have lost a step lately. Everyone back in high school was beating you guys by the time we graduated. Even the girls!"

"I don't want to think of it that way," Henry shot back. "I want to think of it as a case of me and Takato being GREAT teachers."

"Sure…" Kenta mocked.

"We'll prove it to you guys," Henry replied. "Takato and I met three guys who've never heard of the Digimon Card Game…"

"Wait a second!" Kazu interrupted. "Three guys who've NEVER HEARD of THE Digimon Card Game?"

"I was as surprised as you guys were. I thought it would have spread by now, but I guess it never got past West Shinjuku."

"So who are these guys?" Kenta asked.

"They live down the hall," Henry answered.

"But be careful around one of them," Terriermon warned. "He's a total clod. Just ask Takato."

Henry shook his head. "Terriermon…those were just accidents…"

"Hold on a second," Kazu interrupted again. He walked over to Terriermon, who was sitting on his bed. "What are you saying there, Terriermon? Someone giving our buddy, Takato, a hard time?"

"You'd better believe it!" Terriermon answered. "He knocked over all of his bags and boxes twice. And he banged a door on his nose about four or five times. These can't ALL be accidents…unless he really IS a total goof!"

Henry sighed. "Terriermon…"

"So this guy's been messing with Takato, has he?" Kazu said. "Then maybe it's time we did something about it."

Henry sweatdropped. "I don't like the sound of that. We just got here. We don't need to be burning bridges on our first day."

"I was thinking the same thing, Kazu," Terriermon said, ignoring Henry. "What do you have in mind?"

Kazu scratched his chin. "I think now would be a good time to pull our first college prank, don't you, Kenta?"

"My thoughts exactly," Kenta answered.

"Now wait, guys!" Henry cut them off. "I think you're making too much of this. I mean…they were just accidents."

Kazu and Kenta both glanced at each other mischievously. Henry knew that look all too well.

"Guys…promise me you won't do anything! I don't want any of us making enemies right now!"

Kenta sighed. "You just have to be a goody-two-shoes, don't you, Henry?"

"Promise…!" Henry growled, unfazed and gritting his teeth.

"Ok, ok, chill out," Kazu grudgingly agreed. "We promise not to do anything."

Henry breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok good. Then we'll all get together when Takato comes back for a card game…for old time's sake. Let's go, Terriermon."

"Um…I'll be right with you, Henry. I've just…got to check out some of the cards."

"Ok, but don't stay too long. We don't want anyone to see you."

Leaving Terriermon behind, Henry walked out into the hallway and headed back for his room.

Terriermon leaped off the bed and walked towards the door. "Ok…he's gone." He turned around and faced Kazu and Kenta. "That's really nice of you guys to promise Henry you wouldn't do anything. But…he didn't say anything about ME, did he?"

Kazu's face brightened. "Cool! What do you got in mind, Terriermon?"

Terriermon scratched his head with one of his ears. "Hmm…I'm open to suggestions. I mean…I AM a little new to the world of college pranks, you know. I'm actually pretty new to the world of pranks, period."

"We've got a little something we've been saving up for an occasion like this," Kazu replied. "Right, Kenta? Pull out…The Pyramid!"

Kenta reached over and pulled out an elaborate diagram, displaying an average college dorm room. MarineAngemon looked over and saw the whole thing…and just shook his head.

"This is The Pyramid," Kenta explained. "What you do is, you get into their room and get a pile of their underwear. Boxer shorts work best. You take a bunch of pairs of their underwear and tape them to their window in the shape of a pyramid for any wanderers to see. And underneath the pyramid, you place a banner saying '(insert guy's name here) has come out of the closet'. Simple, yet humiliating, making it the perfect opening prank.

"Usually, you'd have to wait until the guy does his laundry…but with you, I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Can you get in without being seen, Terriermon?" Kazu asked.

"This is ME we're talking about," Terriermon said confidently. "Should be a piece of cake."

Kazu chuckled. "Perfect! Then we wait until tomorrow after class. Can't wait to see the look on…uh…Terriermon? Just what IS this guy's name, anyway?"

Terriermon huffed. "The goof's name…is Davis."

Henry reached his room and was just about to open the door, when two guys approached him. They looked to be upper classmen. One of them had blond hair with quite a bit of hair gel, keeping it in pristine condition. The other had brown hair…a LOT of brown hair that just seemed to puff up.

"I don't think we've met you yet," the guy with the big hair said. "You live here?"

"Me? Oh…yeah…"

"We're your RA's. I'm Tai and the man of a thousand hair sprays over here is Matt."

"TAI!" Matt snapped. He quickly regained his composure and turned to Henry. "You'll have to excuse the guy whose hair violates three different zoning laws. We're just walking around introducing ourselves to everybody. What was your name?"

"Henry."

"Henry…ok…is your roommate here?"

"Who, Takato? No, he's having dinner. I'll tell him you guys stopped…"

"Hey…what's that in your hand…?" Tai asked curiously.

Henry looked down at the box in his hands. "Oh this? This is just a box of my cards for the Digimon Card Game."

Matt's eyes widened. "Um……say that again?"

"The Digimon Card Game?" Henry repeated. "Wait a minute…you guys have never heard of it, either?"

"Us…heard of Digimon…?" Tai stuttered. "Why…n-no…never heard of it."

"That's weird," Henry muttered. "I guess no one in Odaiba has ever heard of Digimon. Maybe it's true that it's never gotten past West Shinjuku. That's really odd…especially since I thought this was the place where a Greymon and a Parrotmon were sighted battling nearly ten years ago."

"Is that what those were?" Matt said almost casually. "I can't tell the difference. I mean, this IS Japan. We get monster sightings all the time. You know…Godzilla, Rodan, Greymon…same difference."

Henry sweatdropped. "I see your point…I guess."

"You know, Matt? I think we got something we need to discuss," Tai suddenly piped up. "RA business. Nice meeting you, Henry. Let's go, Matt."

Tai practically pushed Matt aside and into the RA's room. Henry could only stare blankly. This was starting to get VERY weird. Everyone seemed to get so apprehensive whenever he brought up the card game. Maybe they heard about what happened in West Shinjuku. Maybe there was still some anxieties left over from that old Highton View Terrace story, unless it really WAS just a story like Takato thought.

Unable to make any sense of it, Henry just shrugged and went back to his room.

Tai made sure the coast was clear and shut the door. "Ok…tell me I didn't hear what I thought I did."

"He definitely said Digimon Card Game," Matt confirmed. "I didn't know there was a Digimon Card Game. So some person in West Shinjuku or wherever he said he was from made a Digimon Card Game."

Tai shook his head. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"No…I don't. What DOES it mean?"

"Somebody's making a profit off us!"

Matt blinked. "Profit? You're thinking about profits? First of all, they're profiting off the Digimon…not us."

"But don't you think we should be getting a cut?" Tai pointed out. "I mean we ARE DigiDestined."

"And how many people know that?" Matt shot back. "Not a lot. The thing I don't understand is, there haven't even been that many Digimon sighted in the real world. How could they make a card game out of them already? It's only been…ten years."

Silence. Tai and Matt realized what had just been said.

"It's really been a long time, hasn't it?" Tai said softly. "It's been over ten years since the day we first fell into the Digital World. I can't believe so much time has already passed. Matt…we're not getting any younger. I feel so…old."

Matt looked at Tai strangely. "Old? Tai…we're only 22. We are NOT old."

"Yeah, but I feel like I reached my peak at 12. We're a lot older now."

"So what's your point?"

Tai thought about that. "Maybe it's time…we think about the future. Um…I'll be right back, I have some thinking I need to do."

Matt shook his head. "Jeez, all these feelings over a stupid card game?"

Tai shrugged as he walked out. This was about more than a card game. This was about life. Life…that was going by far too fast for Tai.

Rika opened the door and turned on the lights. Jeri and the Kari girl hadn't come back, so Rika was all by herself for the moment. At least that's what she thought. With no one around, Rika locked the door so that she could have some alone time with a close friend of hers. Seeing the room cleared, Renamon literally came out of thin air from the window and walked in. To Rika's surprise, Renamon looked…exhausted.

"What's with you?" the concerned Rika asked. "You look like you were in a fight."

"You COULD say that," Renamon panted.

Rika's eyes widened. "You mean you WERE in a fight? What happened?"

Renamon shrugged. "I met with an old 'friend'. Someone I didn't always get along with. She was in this room."

"Someone else was in here?" Rika asked.

"Yes…a Digimon."

"There was a Digimon in here?!"

Renamon nodded. "Someone I knew from a long time ago. And she was someone I didn't get along with. I just didn't like her style."

"Care to talk about it?" Rika suggested.

Renamon took a seat by Rika's bed. "This was a long time ago before I met you, Rika. I was living in another part of the Digital World with a lot of different other Digimon. Like me, they were all trying to become stronger, better fighters. I'd often train with them and try to boost my own strength. And they all took me under their wing. I felt accepted.

"Then one day, it all changed. One day, someone showed up in our territory. It was a poor excuse for a furball named Gatomon. We ignored her at first, but she just kept on bothering us and bothering my allies. She kept trying to tell us her life story about how she knew she's been waiting for someone and just couldn't remember. And then she'd tell us how much she wanted…to make friends. I don't know how it started, but everyone started taking a shine to her. In a matter of days, everyone had stopped training completely and instead focused on being friendly to the mangy furball. It was like I was the only one who remembered what our purpose was.

"Finally, I decided to confront the cat myself. I approached her and immediately gave her an ultimatum: take her 'friendship' routine somewhere else or face the consequences. I still can't believe she responded to that by trying to be friendly. I was trying to be imposing and fearsome…and she wasn't intimidated at all. I never felt so…inferior. So I decided to show the cat just how weak she was. I dragged her over and threw her off a cliff, into the river below.

"I was satisfied, having gotten rid of our biggest distraction. The others weren't so approving of my actions. Instead of going back to the way it was before, they cast me off. I had a chance to get stronger and I lost it all because of that…furball. I've never forgiven her for that. I had to spend the rest of my life training on my own…until the day you became my Tamer.

"I never thought I'd have to see her again. But she was right here."

"How could this Gatomon get in my room?" Rika asked.

"I don't know," Renamon answered. "But all that matters is that she's gone. And it's a good thing, too. I still can't forget the past and how everyone thought she was a perfect little Digimon."

"Sounds like my roommate," Rika muttered.

"Who, Jeri?"

"No! Jeri can be a little annoying, weird, and occasionally…freaky, but at least I can TOLERATE her. This other girl, on the other hand, is working my last nerve with HER whole 'friendship' routine. And you haven't had to hear her life story these last few hours. Every honor possible and beloved by everyone. A total Miss Perfect! I can't begin to tell you how much those types of people ANNOY me!"

"No kidding," Renamon concurred. "And you have to live with her for the whole year?"

"Oh no! I'm NOT going to spend a year with a 'Miss Perfect'! I don't know how, Renamon, but there's got to be some way to bring that girl down to Earth. She will be humbled eventually…even if I have to humble her myself."

"If anyone knows anything about humbling people, it's you, Rika. Unless we're talking about…you know…"

Rika shot Renamon a cold stare. "How many times do I have to tell you? His name is NOT to be spoken around me!"

"Ok…you sure get touchy whenever anyone mentions…"

Renamon stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Rika glaring at her again. That name was a very touchy subject and anytime anyone mentioned him, Rika would almost always completely lose her cool. She was very sensitive when it came to…him.

That's when someone knocked at the door. Renamon decided to make herself scarce and go invisible again, as she usually liked to do to keep herself hidden from view. Rika walked over and opened the door to see Jeri.

"You're back fast," Rika said dryly.

"It took me a while to drop Guilmon off," Jeri replied. "And it took me a little longer to convince Takato to let him stay. And I think Takato lost his appetite when we went to dinner."

"What happened?"

"He ended up wearing a soup and salad on his head."

Rika scoffed. "He's probably just upset because the soup stained his goggles."

"It's kind of a coincidence. It's not the first time Takato ran into this guy who accidentally spiller his soup and salad on him…and what's even weirder is that he and Kari seem to know each other. They were eating together."

Rika started to put two and two together. "Makes sense. If she's 'Miss Perfect', then OF COURSE the boyfriend has to be a total klutz. I'm not surprised at all."

"Now Rika…she never said he was her boyfriend."

"We don't necessarily know that for sure, do we? Maybe we can ask her ourselves and find out."

Jeri thought about that…and smiled. "Think we should?"

"We've found out everything else about her 'perfect' life. We might as well ask about her love life. We'll do it tomorrow. We'll go ahead and ask her every question imaginable."

Jeri giggled and put her arm across Rika's shoulder. "And we won't leave a stone unturned, will we?"

Rika shrugged Jeri's arm off. "Don't…touch me!"

If there was one thing Rika was willing to admit, it was that Jeri wasn't all bad. Rika still considered her a close friend, even if she could be a little TOO girly at times. And whenever the time came to work together, Rika and Jeri could make a good team. And now came the time to work together…

…to grill Kari Kamiya.

The wait was an impatient one. It had been a while since The Digimon Empress arrived in the Digital World and she was supposed to be working to gather troops for the upcoming invasion. So far, he had yet to see results. And he was starting to get impatient. If an invasion was going to be successful, then they had to have an army large enough to combat a possible resistance from the DigiDestined. He knew how strong they could be since he had battled them once before. But this time, things would be different.

Now that he was reconfigured, he was ready to play with the DigiDestined again, but he soon found himself recruited for a mission of a magnitude even HE could not imagine. It all sounded so delicious that he could not resist. Indeed there was a deadly game about to be played. He couldn't have planned it better himself.

Suddenly, he saw a Tortomon approaching the entrance to the underground Server base. He waved his way and the Tortomon obliged. It looked like The Digimon Empress had done her job and implanted the Black Gear. A Tortomon could be very destructive and he was glad to have one on his side.

"What have we here?" another voice called out. "Ooh, a Tortomon. Splendid! I see the Black Gears are working perfectly."

He turned around to see the sinister ultimate-level android Digimon, Datamon, approach him. Datamon had lived quite the past, himself. He was originally imprisoned by Etemon to run his Dark Network, but had rebelled against him. Of course, Datamon was quite the evil one and he managed to trick the DigiDestined into rescuing him. Once he was freed, he attempted to take over and use Etemon's Dark Network for himself. He even attempted to make a copy of one of the DigiDestined for his own nefarious purposes. But the meddling humans foiled him and he was sucked into a black hole. Now he was reconfigured and just as deranged as ever.

It was Datamon, in fact, who first discovered the brains behind this whole operation years ago. Stumbling upon him with one of his many clever devices, Datamon made contact with The Dark One and was given the proposal to create an army for an invasion of the real world.

He, himself, didn't run into Datamon until one day many years ago. And he was recruited for a number of reasons. For one thing, he was very powerful and nearly destroyed the DigiDestined years ago. But another thing was, he knew better than any other how to pull strings. And combined with Datamon's intellect and creations, he was able to begin pulling the strings of a certain Digimon Empress. But that was a story in itself.

"Although we are behind schedule, we are still making sufficient progress," Datamon said. "At this rate, we should have our army ready any day now."

"So what should we do?" he asked. "Should we make contact again?"

"We all know he's the brains behind the operation," Datamon pointed out. "He knows just what to do. So maybe we should get our instructions from him. Even IF our little Digimon Empress isn't around."

He went into a fit of crazed laughter. "It's almost time, isn't it? It's almost time to play, right?"

"Yes, it's almost time for the games to begin. And that will be most glorious."

He was excited. He couldn't wait to get this party started. He had forgotten what it was like to play with the DigiDestined and he was eager to party with them again. And nobody knew more about partying than…

…Puppetmon.

"So have you liked it here so far?"

"I love it here, TK! I wondered what I was missing in Japan when I first met you. And now I see how wonderful life is over here. It was starting to get boring around France. I'm just glad to get out."

After a long dinner, everyone was now walking along the grassy path of the university's garden. Davis couldn't take his eyes off TK and this new girl, but he wasn't the only one. He also noticed Kari was watching the two like a hawk. It looked like Catherine's sudden arrival completely caught her off-guard. And it appeared that neither TK nor Catherine were aware of Kari's glares. Davis started to think…she was jealous.

"Um…Kari?" Davis began. "Can we talk…alone?" Before Kari even answered, Davis turned to his friends. "I'm sure you guys have a lot to talk about. We'll catch up to you."

Kari couldn't even protest, because Davis was already dragging her by a tree. Everyone stopped momentarily, but decided to let the two have their moment of privacy and kept walking along.

"Did you really have to pick now to talk to me?" Kari huffed.

"I had to!" Davis shot back. "You were glaring a hole right into Catherine…and TK. Is something bothering you?"

"W-Why…would you t-think something's bothering me?" Kari stuttered.

Davis raised an eyebrow. "Kari…"

"Well…maybe something IS bothering me," Kari sighed. "Didn't you notice the way TK's eyes nearly popped out when he saw that Catherine girl? It was like he saw the most beautiful girl in the world. We were together for almost five years…and he NEVER looked at me like that…not even once."

Davis frowned. "Kari…I'm sure it was just because he hadn't seen her in a long time. I'm sure it's not what you think it is."

Kari's face fell. "I guess it didn't take TK so long to forget about me."

"Who said he's forgetting about you?" Davis asked incredulously. "I mean…they're just talking. And just because TK hasn't taken his eyes off Catherine doesn't mean anything. Like I said, it's just because he hasn't seen her in a long time. I don't think it's because he likes her or anything. And even if it is…then what does it matter? You two broke up, remember? That's…why we're going out this Friday night, right?"

Kari came to a realization. "You know something? You're right. I have to remember that TK and I are finished. It's just…not easy to stop looking at the past."

"Are you or TK ever going to tell any of us why you broke up in the first place?"

Kari hesitated. "Davis……we don't want to talk about it. Please just respect that."

"Ok…I won't ask. Kari…if you're not ready to start dating again…then we don't have to go out Friday night…"

Kari stopped Davis in his tracks. "Davis…I DO want to go out with you. You're a VERY sweet guy and I would never forgive myself if I didn't go out with you. I've never known anyone else who cares about me as much as you do. So don't you even think that I'm not ready to go out Friday night. We're going out and we're going to have a good time."

Davis blushed. "I can't wait."

Kari kissed Davis on the cheek. "Let's catch up to everyone."

Davis stood frozen, with his cheeks blushing a bright red. "Yeah…can't wait…"

Kari giggled as she tried to lead Davis by the hand. Of course, Davis had lost all feeling in his legs. With each passing day…Kari seemed to be falling for him more and more…and that's all he could ever really ask for.

Kari couldn't believe herself. For a moment, she was actually getting jealous. Davis was right, though. She had nothing to be jealous about. For one thing, she and TK were already broken up. And another thing, jealousy was completely unnecessary. There was nothing that said there was anything more than two friends reminiscing over old times. Maybe Kari was just feeling insecure because Catherine looked so beautiful.

As Kari continued leading Davis by the hand, she wondered if she could ever hope to be that beautiful. But all she had to do was look into the eyes of Davis to see that she looked just fine.

"Psst…Kari!"

Kari stopped as she heard someone calling her from one of the bushes. She took Davis's hand and walked him towards the bush. Kari gasped when she saw Gatomon there and she looked a bit worse for the wear.

"Gatomon, what happened?" Kari asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"She's here, Kari," Gatomon said nervously.

"Who?" Davis asked curiously.

Gatomon looked sadly into Kari's eyes. Kari didn't understand at first and then she remembered the story Gatomon told her earlier. Kari's eyes widened and Gatomon nodded, as if to confirm her silent guess.

"I don't know how, but she got in our room," Gatomon continued. "And we picked up right where we left off. First we argued…then we fought. We both fell right out the window."

Davis scratched his head. "Is there something I should know?"

"Long story," Kari answered without taking her eyes off Gatomon. "Are you all right?"

"I'm ok," Gatomon nodded. "I showed HER just how strong I could be. If she knows what's good for her, she won't want another piece of this."

Kari bent down so Gatomon could jump in her arms. "Come on then. Let's get back to our room. If nobody's there, maybe I can feed you something from our fridge."

"I hope so," Gatomon grinned.

Davis tapped Kari on the shoulder. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

"If you walk me to my room, I'll tell you everything."

"It's a deal!"

"Ok…it's like this…"

Matt reached over the phone. A few hours had passed since Tai had gone to take a walk, to supposedly think about where his life was going. Matt shrugged. He knew more than anybody how important it was to go finding one's self, but he honestly thought Tai was overreacting on this one. After all, Tai was reacting out of the revelation of a CARD GAME! It was absurd.

But the revelation of a Digimon Card Game was nothing to sneeze at and Matt knew that. That's why he decided to pick up the phone and call…his girlfriend upstairs.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sora! You busy right now?"

"Well…Mimi and I were working on some designs, but we could take a break. What's up?"

"We need to have a little meeting…you know, the old gang. There's something we need to talk about."

"What's that?"

"We'll talk about it when I get there. In the meantime, call Izzy and Joe. They'll want to hear this, too."

"Uh…ok. So I guess you and Tai will be here?"

"Well…I am. I don't know about Tai. He isn't here right now."

"Where is he?"

"He's taking a walk, because…well…maybe it's better I don't say."

"What? Why can't you tell me now, Matt?"

Matt didn't quite know how to answer. "It's…weird. Tai's just been acting strange. I'll tell you about it tomorrow; I'm feeling pretty tired."

"Fine then! But you'd better tell me tomorrow! This is making me curious."

"Ok! Night, Sora!"

Matt hung up and went straight to bed. He hoped he wasn't forgetting about any RA business, but he was sure there was nothing to do. Besides, if there WAS, then Tai could always do it when he got back.

Tomorrow, it would be time to have a chat with the old DigiDestined.


Next Week: We get started with the first day of school! Our characters get to interact with each other a little more, but there are a few surprises, especially with the old Hypnos gang going undercover as professors. But the surprise of the day won't come from the university itself. It'll come from a few blocks away…at Odaiba High School. Also, our old DigiDestined friends will have a meeting, but will Tai even be there? And what big suggestion will Matt make? Find out on the next Digimon: The College Years!


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!