This one was supposed to be two chapters, as well, but I thought it worked better as 1. Enjoy, and review!

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"Youth is wasted on the young."

-George Bernard Shaw

Jeri sat in the small structure in the park as Kazu and Kenta played a game of cards. During the match they'd both been frequently competing for her attention, but she hadn't been paying much to anything around her. She was shaken from the way Takato had sounded on the phone the other day. He sounded scared, almost like whatever he had to do was threatening him. She hadn't slept much that night. She was grateful that he called, but couldn't stop worrying about him, and whether or not he was going to be okay.

I should have gone to see him.

She closed her eyes, mentally slapping herself for her mistake. She hadn't talked to him since, and it had been two days since he called. After the first day, she realized that she'd spoken with him in some way, every single day for the last several months. It wasn't even Takato that had called the meeting she was presently waiting to start. She quietly let out a sigh.

He probably needed someone there, and I wasn't.

Furthermore, Henry's dad had been attacked the afternoon before, when Henry was out with Takato. Whoever attacked him tried to take him somewhere, but fortunately the police followed him and got him back, as well as all the other programmers. They were all comatose, however. Jeri had phoned Henry, who told her as much as he could about his father's current condition, but asked her not to tell anyone else, except Takato, who'd already been told. He'd called her that morning, informing her of the meeting's time, but no details.

Jeri went back to thinking about the boy she cared so much about. She honestly thought he was going to break up with her when he phoned. She didn't know if she would have preferred that over hearing him sound as upset as he did. Her mind raced to come up with something to help someone, but came up with nothing. This continued until

"Hey guys." Ryo said when he finally arrived. He greeted Kazu and Kenta concurrently before greeting her individually. Ryo was always friendly to Kazu and Kenta, even though they obviously tested his limits. She admired how he was like that.

"Anyone know why we're here?" Ryo asked.

"Nope." Kenta had said. "Henry said it was pretty important though." Jeri shifted uncomfortably, hoping nobody would notice. She was worried Mr. Wong's health had taken a turn for the worse. She again struggled with what she'd say or do to help in a situation like that, but she rejected all of the ideas that came to her, dismissing them as insensitive, or making light of the situation.

"I think Henry only told Takato, and he won't tell us." She said finally.

Won't tell me.

"How're you, Jeri?" Ryo said quietly, propping himself against the wall beside her. "You seem kinda out of it."

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind. What about you?"

"Tired. You know, when you kinda think too much that you just wanna relax."

She nodded. That was exactly how she felt about everything that's been going on. She just wanted to sleep, but at the same time, didn't want to. She wanted to make everything right before she could sleep. She just didn't know how. She wondered if Ryo was going through anything himself, or if his outlook just happened to match hers.

Eventually, Takato, Rika, and Henry arrived. Rika gave Ryo something that looked like a sweater, and stood next to him, while Henry and Takato stood by the door. Henry looked pretty bothered. Takato looked like an absolute mess.

No he doesn't.

Jeri stared at him, trying to figure out what was different about him. He was wearing something he normally would, no new haircut, goggles in place…what was it? She stood and began a slow pace, trying not to look too suspicious.

Eyes.

She looked at them, through them. Takato looked almost empty. She was certain that nobody else had even noticed. She didn't want to embarrass him, so she made a mental note to talk to him as soon as the opportunity came up.

"You gonna tell us why we're spending our Sunday here now?" Kazu questioned bluntly.

Jeri was still looking at Takato, who hadn't even looked at her. She saw him nod to Henry, before Henry passed a small piece of paper to her.

"Can you read that, please?" he asked, finally looking at her.

"Um, sure, I guess." She said, confused. She cleared her throat and read the article. It was a clipping from the local newspaper. It describes the situation about the programmers before they were found, and how Henry's father had refused to be protected. It describes the attack on him almost as a digimon's attack. It shot fire at him. It then spoke of the recovery of the six, declaring all of them as comatose—"and that's where it's cut off."

"Read this one, too." Takato said, passing her another clipping, this one much smaller. She stared into his eyes as he did, but she was sure he didn't notice. She could tell something was really wrong.

" First of five comatose victims awake

Janyu Wong was the first to wake from his coma, at 10:03pm last night. When asked what the attacker asked, he refused to tell authorities. We'll have more information on this story as it becomes available."

There was a minute that passed in silence. If nobody else would ask, then she would.

"What did they ask him, Henry?"

She saw him exchange a worried look with Takato, which did nothing for her nerves. Henry spoke, his fear obvious in his voice. "He was asking him the locations of where we could be found. That thing wasn't after my father or the others, it was after us. It attacked them because they'd all refused to tell it where we were… My family and me are staying with Takato's, since if that thing can read it would know where I live… Whatever that was, it wasn't human. I think it was a Digimon, and it's going to try to hunt us down, but we can't fight back."

Something's…after us?

Jeri looked around, gauging everyone's reactions. She recognized a similar worried look on everyone's faces, except Takato, who wore something more unique. She continued trying to label it, until he spoke. "Alright, let's take a break, I think."

She saw Kazu and Kenta nervously resume their card game, and Henry sit down and close his eyes. Rika walked outside, quickly followed by Ryo. She was ready to approach Takato and talk to him, but it was he who approached her.

"Can we take a walk?" he asked.

"Of course, Takato." They headed outside, and carefully descended the hill on the side opposite the path everyone always used. She had always liked this side of the hill, as there were several large rocks embedded in it, many of which were flat and horizontal, making a great place to sit and relax. Takato looked to think the same, as he picked one Jeri herself had always enjoyed, and the two sat.

"Sorry I haven't called." Takato said awkwardly. "And sorry if I freaked you out the other day. Things are—things were pretty messed up."

"It's okay." She said quietly. "Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?"

"There's lots, it's just—I can't. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. Secrets, you know." He said, almost without any tone at all."

She knew that he wasn't going to tell her anything, and it hurt her. Bad. She found herself wondering about what this thing was that might be after them. She hadn't so much thought of her empty home, but instead worried about the boy next to her. She concluded he was why she wasn't particularly scared. She leaned over, and planted a kiss on his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for about fifteen minutes before Takato spoke. "I think you should stay at my place for a while. So you're not alone. I think you'll be safer that way."

I know I will be.

"Okay. That sounds right." She replied with no objections. She sat her head back on his shoulder, and another five minutes passed before the next interruption.

"Guys, we're gonna figure out some living arrangements." Henry called.

They stood up, and Takato looked at her before they headed back upstairs.

Weird.

For a second, Takato almost looked like he was sorry about something.

-

"You asked her to move in with you?" Yamaki questioned.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it was the right thing to do." He said firmly, throwing Yamaki's words back at him.

"You know you can't tell her anything."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed.

"Anyways, I've been going over what happened, and that creature that attacked Wong did demonstrate several characteristics of those of digital monsters. I injected it with something I was supposed to be able to track, but it's not functioning. I believe it's underground. I should be able to pinpoint its location if it is. I scanned, and there have been no digimon that have left the digital world since the D-Reaper. I think that this thing is only part-digimon. I'm still testing some samples we collected earlier."

Takato struggled with the thought, settling on something like a biomerge. He said nothing, however, and Yamaki continued.

"What I need you to do is, when I call you and tell you where to go, observe the creature. Gather as much information on it as you can—size, color, smell—anything you can take note of, do. I'll have men guarding you from a distance. What I want to determine is a) what this thing is, and b) if it knows you're a Tamer. We heard it say 'Tamers' when we chased it off before, but that does not necessarily mean he knows who you are. We need to assess how much danger you're in. I'll contact you later when it's time."

Takato hung up the phone. Here he was, the girl of his dreams never closer, and he'd never felt so alone. His last mission for Yamaki turned out to be a stunning success—Janyu was hospitalized. They had confirmed that someone or something was after the Tamers, but couldn't help but weigh if it was worth risking Janyu's well being. He was just so tired.

He went downstairs, trying to look as normal as possible, and found Jeri sitting on the couch, looking at, but not watching the television. He sat beside her. They hadn't told Takato's parents about the creature, as it would only lead to excess worry. Instead, Takato had told them that Jeri was simply scared of living by herself, and they'd invited her to stay with them for a few weeks without a second thought. The only other person they might be that friendly to would be Ryo, whose parents were also away. Ryo's home was a ways out of town, however, and Rika was staying with him, last he heard.

Three days past before Takato got another phone call. But it wasn't Yamaki, as he expected, it was Rika. She'd asked him if he and Henry wanted to do something. Apparently she didn't know Jeri was living with him, but Takato knew it wouldn't be a problem having her along, so he didn't mention it. They agreed that she and Ryo would meet them at the bakery after calling Henry. He told Jeri, and she seemed excited to get to see some people, which made him glad. The two honestly hadn't been out much.

Takato and Jeri were getting ready upstairs when he got another phone call. He picked it up, expecting Rika, Ryo, or Henry. But he wasn't surprised when it was Yamaki.

"Takato, I just got a location. It must have came from the sewers."

"Where is it?"

"Right outside, but it doesn't seem to be moving towards you."

Takato paused a moment as he decided what he should do. He looked to Jeri.

"No matter what you here, stay here, okay?" he asked, almost pleadingly.

"Okay, Takato." She said, obviously confused, but trusting him.

He hurried downstairs, still with Yamaki on the phone. He saw Rika and Ryo were right outside, their backs facing him. He looked past them to what they were staring at, a giant creature with almost a snakelike body. It was towering over a charred body. Takato's stomach twisted as he saw it, burned beyond recognition, void of life. A crowd of people were staring onward, likely too scared to move. The creature was staring back towards him—

—No—

--towards Ryo and Rika. Ryo grabbed Rika and ran, and the creature headed after them. It took Takato all his strength not to follow. He couldn't leave Jeri alone, and he was hesitant to have her see the dead body outside.

"Yamaki it's after them!"

"It won't catch them, they're faster than it. Takato, I don't think it's after them."

"What? I just saw it, it's chasing them now—"

"Don't worry, they'll get away. What I mean is—it's not after them—collectively. It's after Rika."

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Okay, so things are picking up now. Please review, I was a little disappointed in how few there's been. Anyways, I need some feedback to see if anyone's even reading this.

Lots of love,

N