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"A character you'd be best friends with"

Leaning with his back against the gate to the school, Henry stared down at the DigiVice in his hand, pressing the buttons one at a time in the hopes of getting some kind of reaction. While the device technically still functioned, it seemed to barely respond to any input. As disappointed as Henry was, he couldn't say that he was surprised. With Terriermon gone, his DigiVice didn't really serve a purpose anymore. He only really persisted in poking at it in the hopes that his assertion would be proven wrong.

"Henry!"

Turning at the sound of his name being called, Henry scanned the school grounds just in time to see Jeri jog past a group of classmates. He quickly stuffed his DigiVice in his pocket, deciding he could fixate on it in his own time.

Hey, Jeri," Henry responded when she finally made it to the gate. He quickly peered around her to look for the rest of their group. "Where's everyone else?"

Jeri's whole body seemed to sigh. "Detention."

"Do I want to know?" Again, Henry wasn't all that surprised, as they were all dealing with the aftermath of the D-Reaper's defeat in their own way.

"Takato wasn't paying attention again."

"And how did Kazu and Kenta factor into this?"

"They didn't." Jeri wasn't trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. "They made their own trouble instead."

"Naturally," Henry replied, though trying his best to not be as hard on the two of them as she was. He decided to wait to here the actual story before passing an judgment.

"Yeah..." Jeri started smiling again. "Anyway, they said we shouldn't wait around for them."

"Right..." Henry sidestepped to give her room to step forward before they both started making their way home.

They walked side by side and in silence at first, though not by Henry's intention. On top of the brain fog that had become the norm since his separation from Terriermon, he also wasn't entirely sure how to start a conversation with Jeri. While he definitely considered her a friend, they rarely if ever spent any time together without someone else around to act as buffer. The end result was Henry not being sure if they had anything in common aside from mutual friends and their time as Tamers.

"Everything okay, Henry?" Jeri asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I guess..." Henry answered, not able to keep the confusion out of his voice.

Jeri raised an eyebrow. "You guess?"

Henry mirrored the gesture. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of how you were staring at your DigiVice before."

Henry hesitated, mostly because he hadn't expected Jeri to be so direct, but also just due to surprise. He had just assumed it was the awkward silence bothering her the way it had been him, not concern for him specifically. He had also thought she hadn't noticed the DigiVice, though if this line of conversation seemed ready to prove anything, it was how observant Jeri was.

"Not that that's anything to be ashamed about," Jeri added quickly, pausing briefly as a somber expression took over her face. "I do the same thing."

Suddenly being hit with a wave of guilt, Henry instinctively looked away from Jeri. Terriermon had been forced back to Digital World, but was at the very least still alive. Leomon was just gone, and while everyone else still clung to the possibility of their Digimon returning, no such hope existed when it came to Jeri's partner. If anything, Henry should have been the one asking Jeri if she was alright.

"I'm sorry," Henry finally said, almost without thinking.

"Sorry for what?" A smile came to Jeri's mouth, but not her eyes.

"For not doing more." Henry wasn't entirely sure anymore what the exact topic of their conversation was, though his conscience insisted his words were appropriate.

"You did everything you could." Jeri paused again, taking a second to scratch at the corner of her eye. "Anywho, you're still kinda dodging my first question."

"I just..." Henry clutched the DigiVice in his pocket as he tried to put together a more concise answer. "I wish it didn't feel like there were walls being put up in our way."

"How do you mean?" Jeri asked, curiosity seeming to take over her somberness.

"No one's building a new arc," Henry explained, deciding that hiding his frustration wasn't benefitting either of them. "They're not even trying to make contact with the Digital World. Dad says there's too much red tape, even for Yamaki."

"You're talking to your dad again?" Jeri questioned, once again managing to surprise him with her questions.

It was no secret that Henry and his father hadn't been on good terms immediately following the D-Reaper's defeat. All of the Tamers had been present for the revelation that the Monster Makers had known how Juggernaut would affect the Digimon, and were therefore present for Henry's reaction. Looking back, he may have been the most angry of all of them.

"Yeah, more or less," Henry summarized.

Jeri tilted her head slightly. "What's the less part?"

Henry's eyes fell to the sidewalk in front of him. "We still haven't really spoken about his part in what happened with Juggernaut."

"Why not?"

Henry shook his head. "He made a tough call. I don't want to bother him by bringing it up."

"But it bothers you."

With that, they arrived at the corner where they would have to part ways. Jeri stopped and turned to face him, however, almost planting her feet on the pavement.

"Don't bury this stuff, Henry," Jeri said with a kind smile and a gentle voice. "Take it from someone with experience; putting on a brave face for your dad now is just building up a bigger problem for later."

"I'll think on that," Henry replied, not ready to make any promises yet.

"You'd better," Jeri said playfully.

"Either way, thanks for listening, Jeri. If you ever need someone to do the same for you..."

"I'll let you know the next time the other boys get themselves stuck in detention." She gave a quick salute. "Seriously, though, I meant it when I say you better think about what I said. I beat up the last person who didn't take my advice."

Henry couldn't help but smile. "You take up martial arts or something?"

"Nope, but I fight dirty." Jeri winked at him before turning around heading homeward.

Henry took a deep breath before doing the same. A lot was still uncertain for him, but at least he knew he had people going through the same struggles by his side. Things would improve as long as they supported each other.

Author's Note:

Jeri is my answer to this prompt, in the off chance it wasn't clear, though I do think Henry makes strong case for this place as well.