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"Favorite Character"

Takato jogged through Shinjuku Park, which was mostly deserted during these nighttime hours. He considered this a small win, given how he had previously had to sneak around his own home to gather up the belongings he was currently lugging around and then leave without his parents noticing. The trade-off for getting in and out as intended was, of course, him taking a bit longer than he originally thought he would.

Eventually, Takato stepped off the park's intended path and exited into a sizable clearing not far from the utility shed Guilmon used as an improvised home. There, hunched as low as he could given his size, was WarGrowlmon, who had clearly not been able to de-digivolve since Takato had stepped away.

WarGrowlmon turning to acknowledge his partner caused all other eyes to shift in Takato's direction. Henry and Rika both seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing Takato approach, likely still a bit on edge after the battle with Mihiramon. Despite this, though, they hadn't hesitated to volunteer to watch over WarGrowlmon while Takato made preparations for what was potentially going to be a long night.

"Sorry I'm late," Takato said, scratching the back of his head and trying to put on a friendly smile. "Got a little held up."

"Did you pack your entire bedroom?" Rika asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm?" Takato's mind went blank for half a second before his eyes dropped to the bag at his side, which he had not quite been able to close correctly given its contents. "Oh! Nope, just the essentials."

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay?" Henry asked before Rika could respond, concern in both his voice and eyes.

"Who's gonna mess with a mecha kaiju?" Terriermon commented from Henry's shoulder, his injuries from the fight clearly still weighing him down a bit.

"One Ultimate level Digimon has already tried," Renamon interjected, herself in about the same state as Terriermon.

"Yeah, and SuperMetalGrowlmon showed him what's what."

"Thanks, Henry, but I think we'll be okay," Takato cut in to make sure the original question was answered. "You guys should head home and get some rest."

"Suit yourself, Gogglehead," Rika replied instantly before stuffing her hands in her pockets and walking off.

Renamon followed her partner into the brush, though Henry hesitated for a split second. He looked like he wanted to argue before glancing at Terriermon, after which he simply gave Takato a nod and disappeared into the night.

Takato immediately plopped himself on the ground, relief and exhaustion being at the forefront of his feelings at the moment. Still, the night wasn't over and he had to stay focused. Takato fished out a pad and a couple pencils from his bag, his intent to keep himself busy for the time being.

Instead, however, he froze. His arm shook, the memory of the pain he had experienced during the battle still fresh in his mind. While the pain was gone and he couldn't find any signs of actual injury, he couldn't help but dwell on how close they had come to losing that battle. Not wanting to keep dwelling, Takato tried to find something else to focus on.

"You doing okay, WarGrowlmon?" he asked as he turned his head upwards.

"I'm okay," WarGrowlmon answered, his voice much deeper than usual yet still recognizable as his partner's. "Just a little hungry."

"Of course..." Takato laughed under his breath. He brought food for his partner, though was holding out in the hopes that his Ultimate form burned more energy and not eating would cause him to de-digivolve faster. Of course, if the last couple months had proven anything, it was how little any of them actually knew about Digimon.

"Still, that Mihiramon was something else," Takato continued, finding himself unable to completely change his line of thought. "If the Blue Card didn't appear, I don't know what we'd have done."

"I'm sure we would've thought of something," WarGrowlmon replied. If he had any uncertainty, he didn't show it.

"I guess so..." Takato recalled the fight, along with the images of Kyubimon and Gargomon each falling from Metropolitan Government Building. "The problem is that we each tried to fight him on our own."

"You think we should've attacked together?"

"As a start, yeah..." Takato tried to imagine the scenario of the three of them combining forces to fight Mihiramon. "Of course, teamwork isn't exactly our strong suit."

They still had a lot to sort through before they could function as a team. While Rika seemed to be coming around to the idea, she still kept her distance, leaving Takato to worry if she could truly trust the rest of them to fight alongside her. Then their was Henry, who had a tendency to take on too much responsibility. Takato was convinced that he would fight wild Digimon without Terriermon if he thought he could.

"We should practice," WarGrowlmon suggested.

"Not a bad idea, boy."

At the end of the day, it wasn't the Tamers' capability of working together that Takato doubted, but more their willingness. He just couldn't figure out what the right motivation was.

Or inspiration!

An idea pushed itself to the front of Takato's mind. They needed a symbol or icon of some kind, one that stood for them and what they were fighting for. Every team had an insignia, and he just needed to figure out what theirs was.

Takato quickly began to draw up sketches and concepts, trying to sort what was the right fit. He briefly considered waiting until the following day to run the idea by the others to see what they thought, but decided to keep going. He knew Henry and Terriermon would be on board for the idea, and Renamon probably wouldn't care either way. The only real question mark was Rika.

Who am I kidding? Takato smiled as he kept drawing. She'll love it once she sees it.

"What are you working on?"

Takato turned to answer, only to yelp and jump backwards when he saw Guilmon's snout only a couple of centimeters from his face. Apparently, he had de-digivolved while Takato was working and had managed to sneak up on him.

"You startled me, Guilmon," Takato stated as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sorry..." Guilmon dropped his head apologetically.

"No worries..." Takato stood up and dusted himself off. "Anyway, what I'm working on is... a surprise!"

Guilmon perked up. "A surprise?"

"Yep! Something to help us work as a team."

"Okay..." Guilmon's nose suddenly found its way to Takato's bag. "Can I eat now?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Takato smiled and shook his head, not surprised in the slightest. He reached into his bag and fished out the day-old bread from the Matsuki bakery. "You good to make it back to the shed on your own?"

"You betcha!" Guilmon said as he swallowed an entire roll in one bite.

Takato began gathering up his belongings. "Cool, then I'm gonna head home to work on our surprise."

"Okey dokey then." Guilmon gave his equivalent of a salute. "I'll see you tomorrow, Takatomon."

"Just stay out of trouble," Takato replied as they headed off in different directions.

Wild Digimon attacks had been escalating lately, so Takato knew that Mihiramon would be far from the last Ultimate they fought. Still, with his friends by his side, he knew they would be able to defeat those Digimon. Things were about to change, and though they had had their rough patches, the Tamers would be ready for what came next.