"One man's justice is another's injustice; one man's beauty another's ugliness; one man's wisdom another's folly."
Ralph W. Emerson
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Hey, you. Review. …Please?
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PS. Keep in mind if you're enjoying this at all, you might be interested in checking out Crescendo, which this parallels.
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Jeri grunted as she forced the brush through her tangled hair.
I think I need a haircut.
She retracted the thought when she finally finished, as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was just after 10:00, so she hadn't gotten much sleep at all.
Does it show?
She was a little tired, but she knew if she went to sleep again, she wouldn't be up until the early part of the afternoon. She didn't have to work, or any other commitments for that matter, but she didn't like sleeping in late, unlike most people her age. She was much happier on the move, going one place or another. She sort of thought of sleeping in as wasting time that could be better spent elsewhere.
When she had concluded she didn't look horribly tired, she went to her computer. Before she got the opportunity to sign on, however, her phone rang. She picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hey, morning Jeri."
"Hey Henry," she said, pleasantly surprised. "What's up?" Jeri knew Henry wasn't the kind to call and just chat, which was a little to Jeri's disappointment. She thoroughly enjoyed talking to her friends, especially to a friend as close as Henry.
"Was wondering if you talked to Takato lately. Just got a message from him saying that Rika's alright; wanted to make sure you knew."
"Yes, I talked to her online, I was pretty relieved." She suddenly rememberd that she had also been worried last night for Henry. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah, much. Thanks for asking. Was probably just tired. Anyways, what are you doing today?"
"Nothing at all. Did you want to do anything?" She asked hopefully. "I still have your coat. Jeri didn't get to see Henry very much, he'd been working a lot this summer. She was very happy to have seen him the night before. As she talked to him on the phone, she went to the dryer and removed both his jacket, and the change of clothes Takato had left. She hung the jacket on the back of her computer chair, and carefully folded Takato's clothes and put them in her drawer. She agreed that Henry would meet her at her place in an hour, and they'd go kill some time at the mall. Jeri quickly got changed into a faded pair of jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red zip-up sweater. She grabbed her favorite necklace, a small glass pendant with a red heart inside. Takato gave it to her the day after the D-Reaper was defeated, shortly after their first kiss together. It was the one thing that reminded her of the D-Reaper that she still kept around.
She hurried downstairs in search of food. Jeri never took long getting ready, so she had plenty of time. Her father, brother, and step-mother were gone for a few weeks, and while Jeri doesn't usually like being alone, she was definitely enjoying having the house to herself.
She got out some bread, meats, and condiments, and started putting together some sandwiches, as she often did. She was halfway done before she realized that she was making enough for four.
Darn. Maybe Henry hasn't eaten yet.
Jeri doubted it. She knew Henry as one of those people who is never seen eating
If he's not, I'll give the others to Takato and his parents.
Proud that she found a solution that didn't lead to her refrigerator smelling like old sandwiches, she finished making them up, wrapping only two of them incase Henry was hungry. She sat down and ate her serving, a little embarrassed she enjoyed it as much as she did.
Henry soon arrived, and politely declined her offer for lunch.
"Do you mind if we stop by Takato's so I can give these to him and his parents?" she asked.
"Sure, no problem." Henry said, indicating the large goggles around his neck that she hadn't noticed. She giggled at the image of the two of them running around in the rain the night before, fighting over them.
While she was wrapping up the remaining sandwich, the phone rang.
Darn it.
"Can you finish this for me?" she asked Henry, indicating the mess of plastic wrap.
"Sure, no problem."
"Thanks." She hurried over to the phone before the voicemail picked up. "Hello?"
"Is this Jeri?" a man's voice asked.
"It is," she said slowly, trying to place the voice.
Mr. Yamaki?
"Jeri, it's Yamaki."
She smiled. "Good morning Mr. Yamaki." She really liked him. She was glad that in the end, he turned out to be on their side.
"Do you know where Takato is? I can't get an answer on his phone."
Maybe he's not home. No, wait—
"Oh, he was out really late with Ryo last night. He could still be asleep."
"Alright, thank you for your time. If you see him, have him call me as soon as he can."
"I will, goodbye."
Mr. Yamaki's always so formal. I wonder if she owns a t-shirt.
Soon she and Henry were on their way to Takato's, which was near the mall. They chatted about Yamaki, and devised a plan to buy him a "Metallica Rules" t-shirt. They talked about Henry's martial arts, and whatever else came to mind. Time always passed quickly with Henry, he was a great conversationalist and Jeri was always interested in what he had to say. She didn't know him very well through school before the arrival of his and Takato's partners, as the school was very large. They talked regularly after that, though, but not as much lately as he was very busy. She was grateful he'd called to do something.
After a short cab ride, they soon arrived at Takato's, which was a little less than halfway to the mall from Jeri's. Takato's mother answered the door.
"Jeri! Henry! Come on in." she greeted, cheerful as ever.
"Good morning Mrs. Matsuda." They both said, nearly in unison.
"I accidentally made too much lunch, so I brought some over." Jeri stated.
"I wonder if that sounded as ridiculous out loud as it did in my head." she thought to herself.
Mrs. Matsuda thanked her as Henry excused himself to answer his phone, and Takato's father entered. "Morning Jeri!"
"Good morning Mr. Matsuda, I made you all some lunch." Jeri said politely.
"Well thank you Jeri, that was very thoughtful." he said warmly, eagerly grabbing a sandwich from the plate. "Oh, I think that's my boy now," he said, as footsteps were heard moving towards the stairs. He peeked up, then turned back to Jeri. "Nope, it's the other one." He said with a little laugh as Ryo entered, wearing some of what Jeri recognized as Takato's clothes.
Jeri didn't know Ryo as well as Takato did, but she knew from all he had told her that he was a good, fun person to be around. He was a little taller than Takato, but Takato'd apparently lent him some of his larger jeans and an oversized sweater, making him actually look shorter than he was.
"Morning Jeri." He greeted her.
"Oh, hey Ryo, I didn't realize you'd stayed over here. I would have made more food, it looks like you guys are going to have to fight over who has to eat those." She said with a grin, knowing full-well they'd enjoy them.
Maybe I should go make more.
"Takato's still asleep?" she asked, distracting herself.
"Yeah, he didn't go to sleep 'til pretty late."
She wanted to question Ryo for some details on how things were with Rika last night, but was reluctant to be nosey.
"How was your evening?" She asked after she determined the question not to be invasive.
"Great night." He said confidently.
Aww.
She stopped herself from making the noise out loud, and realized Henry was still outside. "Anyways, I should probably get going." She traded goodbyes with everyone, and turned to leave.
Yamaki.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Will you ask Takato to phone Mr. Yamaki?"
"Sure thing." Mrs. Matsuda said with a wave.
Jeri went outside to find Henry still on the phone.
"How many? No, I mean how many of them are okay. I see. The rest are going to be kept safe though, right? He said with pauses of varying lengths between.
I hope I'm not intruding, maybe I should go inside.
She didn't, though, when Henry turned around, showing no negative concern of her presence.
"Dad, do it." He continued, pleadingly. "Suzi and I will be fine, just—no, dad—" he paused, sighed, and closed the phone.
"Is everything alright, Henry?" Jeri asked, deeply concerned.
"I have no idea. Four of the monster makers of disappeared. The police think kidnapping or—worse—"
Oh, no…
Jeri couldn't think of anything to say in response to that. Or what came next.
"—and they think my dad is next on the list."
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Takato paced around the living room, glancing out the window frequently in search of Yamaki's limousine. He'd been calling, Takato was told. From Jeri and Henry, actually, who had told him of the danger that Janyu was thought to be in. They'd waited for Ryo to have left before they told him, and brought him to his room to avoid his parents, as well. Henry didn't want anyone but the three of them to know, probably out of fear the information might make it to Suzi.
He glanced at his watch. It was 3:24. Yamaki was supposed to come at 3:30. Takato knew he was not the kind to be more than a minute early or late, but still couldn't bring himself to distract himself from his thoughts. Yamaki mentioned that it was about the attacks, and that it was important that they talk, but not why. Takato's curiousity caused the time to flow all too slowly.
The six minutes seemed to take forever. When the limo finally pulled up, he entered it, waiting for no invitation. He thought of how peculiar it must have looked to someone who was watching.
"Hello, Mr. Yamaki." Takato said politely.
"Takato, the conversation we're aobut to have can not be reproduced in any way." Yamaki said flatly, ignoring Takato's greeting. "Do you understand?"
I'm not stupid, Yamaki. Foiled your schemes back in the day, didn't I?
"Yes." He promised, despite his disapproval of Yamaki's condescending tone.
Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?
"Tomorrow afternoon, Janyu Wong will be attacked and kidnapped outside of his apartment." Yamaki said confidently.
To hell with this.
"I'm telling." Takato said defiantly.
"You don't understand. It's important that this happens. I'm prepared to quarantine you until then if you're not willing to comply."
Comply with what?
"Why should I?" Takato challenged, not expecting to be convinced.
"Because his safety isn't the only thing on the line. If we don't let this happen, innocent people will die.
Janyu's innocent.
"Explain." Takato said coldly. This was not turning out to be his best day ever.
"It makes no sense for whoever is doing this to kill the people that have been kidnapped, so it is a safe assumption that they are alive. Whether or not they're well is still unknown. If Janyu is attacked tomorrow, I'm prepared to track him down. Hopefully it will lead me to the kidnappers."
"Why am I being told this?" Takato asked suddenly, realizing it seemed unnecessary.
"The Monster Makers' are known for both their connection to the digimon, and for knowing you. The Tamers. Unless we find the attacker, he'll likely ocme after you all. I need you to help me stop that from happening, Takato. It can't be anyone else."
"Why not? Why does it have to be me?" Takato asked, annoyed by the situation he'd been placed in.
"I've known you for over a year now. All of you. I know you're the leader of the group. But more importantly, I have confidence that you are the most capable. You have the best reactions under pressure. I know this isn't something you want to do, but I know you know it's something that must be done." Yamaki spoke, almost passionately. "When you fought the D-Reaper, you risked your life to protect someone you love, and to do what was right. You carried the weight of the world, and you were barely a teenager. It's the greater good, Takato. Janyu knows what that is."
There was a moment of silence as Takato let Yamaki's words sink in. He knew Yamaki cared about the tamers, but he never knew that he had that much faith in them. In him.
The greater good?
Janyu did know what the greater good was. During the fight against the D-Reaper, he was called upon to do something that had to be done, even though he didn't want to. He made the decision nobody else could. Takato didn't want to admit it to himself, but he forced himself to.
Yamaki's right.
"Okay." He said finally. Tell me what I have to do."
"First, I'll need you to distract Henry. Keep him occupied all afternoon tomorrow. Keep him far away from where Janyu will be. Make sure he can't be contacted, either—disable his phone. With luck, I'll have Janyu back before Henry, or anyone hears he's missing. I've some men keeping an eye on Janyu, so Henry won't be too scared to leave Janyu's sight. The men, however will only follow the attacker or attackers. After we know what we're up against, you and I will determine our next move together."
"Alright." Takato agreed. He was convinced it was the right thing to do, but it didn't make him hate himself any less.
Takato was dropped off at his home shortly after. He didn't say a word the rest of the drive.
Greater good.
It took him a long while before he could work up the nerve to phone Henry, but he eventually picked it up and dialed.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Henry? It's Takato."
This is so wrong.
"Hi, what's up?"
Your dad's going to be missing by tomorrow night.
"Not a lot." Takato lied. "I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie tomorrow afternoon. Two, actually. They're doing a double-showing."
"Sure, sounds great."
I'm going to hell.
"Great, I'll see you tomorrow." Takato said, almost choking. "Meet you here at noon?"
"Will do. See you then."
I'm so sorry, Henry.
He hung up the phone. Takato knew that he didn't deserve it, but he needed something. Solace He picked up the phone again, and dialed.
"Hey Jeri." He said, trying to sound like he wasn't ready to cry.
"Hi Takato! I was just thinking about calling you. How're you?"
"Been worse."
Have you really?
"Oh…want me to come over?" she asked, obviously concerned.
Yes.
"No, that's okay. I mean, I'll be fine. I—just wanted to hear you." He said cautiously.
"I appreciate that, Takato. It means a lot. Is there anything I can do? Do you want to talk about it?" he knew she was going to ask that, and struggled to reject her offer to help.
"No, I kinda promised that I wouldn't tell anyone…it's just—have you ever done something you really didn't want to?" he said, searching for the right words.
"Well, once I was taken over by a computer program and tried to end life on earth. What's really going on?"
He knew Jeri was concerned to joke about that, and felt even more guilty for causing her to. "Not exactly that, I mean—have you ever chosen to do something you didn't want to do? For like, the greater good?"
"I don't really know. I guess I've always thought that when it's the greater good, you don't really have a choice."
That was almost exactly what he wanted to hear, and the last thing he expected to hear. Still, he was certain that she'd say otherwise if she knew the situation. But, it was still something.
"Takato," she continued, "I know we just keep doing our own thing, living our lives and all that. We keep going and going, and we don't know we've gone too far until we have to deal with it. But whatever you're struggling with, I know you'll do the right thing. You always do."
Takato actually smiled, grateful for something. If someone has to be put in this situation, he was glad it wasn't Jeri.
The right thing to do. Greater good.
Phrases from that day raced through his mind. His conversation with Jeri ended shortly after, and he'd been sitting in a daze for at least an hour after that. He didn't bother looking at the clock before he took some extra drowsy headache medicine, and lay down, praying he wouldn't dream.
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Author's notes/comments
Well, there you go. This was actually supposed to be chapters 2 and 3, separated at the beginning of Takato's point of view, but I put them together when I figured that the first part didn't constitute a worthy chapter on its own.
This one takes place after Crescendo's chapter 2, but before 3.
When I was first planning Crescendo, Ryo was going to be the one to help Yamaki, but that closed off a lot of options for what I wanted to happen in the later chapters, so I wanted Takato to do it. But then Crescendo stopped being about Ryo and Rika, so I cut it out.
I was going to just revamp my original version of this chapter, putting Takato in Ryo's position, but redid it from scratch. Yamaki's plan was supposed to end in Janyu dying, but that made things a little too complicated. I couldn't have Janyu die, anyways, as it's stated in the other story that he's alive.
Anyways, 'til next time.
Read and review, if it's not too much trouble.
I've got what's probably going to be chapter 4 done. Working on 3.
-N