This chapter takes place in all three worlds and the main POVs are in Shinya, Yutaka, Daisy, and Hiroaki's POV. Enjoy! and PLEASE REVIEW! TTwTT
Updated: 4/11/21
I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02, TAMERS, FRONTIER OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!
Chapter 8: Old and New Relations
The Frontier Digital World: Location: The Celestial Digimon's Castle
Shinya stared in shock at the screen that had been airing his brother's now blank channel.
"Takuya…" he whispered, shaking slightly.
When his brother had been struck by the black knight Digimon his screen had blacked out. At the moment Shinya's mother was sobbing uncontrollably against his father's chest as he and the other parents tried to soothe her. Never before had a channel blacked out like that even when the subject was asleep. This was a worrying development. Yutaka was watching the Kanbara family's reactions, feeling as numb as Shinya.
Various thoughts were running through his head. Takuya had obviously been the target and reason for the attack… but why? Why was the boy alone taken? It just didn't make any sense to Yutaka. He glanced up at the various screens and watched as the doctor-kid was flipping through medical documents of some sort informing the others about Takuya's condition. His heart clenched when he saw the absolute fear and mortification on Tommy's face at the revelation. A twinge of jealousy flashed through Yutaka. That Tommy was so worried for this other brat-! …That wasn't fair of him. Yutaka looked back at Shinya feeling slightly guilty and more than sympathetic to the young boy's plight, but he frowned when he saw the young Kanbara boy slip out of the room and out into the Unification Hall. Yutaka looked around the room and realized that none of the parents had noticed that the little boy had snuck out. All of them were too busy trying to comfort the distraught Kanbara parents. With a frown Yutaka quietly slipped out of the room as well and silently followed the wandering boy.
Shinya was unaware of his presence as he walked down the large hall and wandered through the first door he came too. The door opened up to a high ceilinged room that was scarcely decorated with plush furniture that gave the impression that the space was meant to be a sitting or waiting room. Shinya looked around it numbly, wondering what kind of Digimon used some of the more odd looking pieces in the room. He crossed to the other side of the room where there was another door. He opened it without hesitation – already bored with the sitting room – and wandered into another long hallway decorated with more murals. He could now recognize the subjects of the murals as he looked them over. On one section of the abstract mural there was a depiction of Koji and Koichi as the two appeared to be locked in battle. Shinya shivered when he got a good look at how sinisterly the Twin of Darkness was represented in this picture.
"That must be from when Koichi was that Duskmon character," a voice mused.
Shinya nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around on the spot and found Yutaka Himi standing a few feet away from him as the older boy's gaze wandered from the section of the mural he was looking at to one of a small boy wrapped in ice battling a flaming Digimon. Shinya watched him silently as the older boy continued to stare at the mural.
"…What are you doing here?" Shinya mumbled before continuing to walk down the long hall.
"I just think that little kids shouldn't be wandering around on their own," Yutaka said with a shrug.
"I'm not little," Shinya grumbled. "I can take care of myself."
Yutaka paused, sparing Shinya a glance. He'd heard Tommy mutter those words many times before.
"…I'm sure you can," Yutaka finally managed. "But humor me, won't ya?"
Shinya peered up at Yutaka's neutral face before smiling sadly.
"You miss Tommy, don't you? You're worried about him," Shinya whispered, making Yutaka stiffen. "I've got an idea. Since my older brother and your younger brother are gone, you can be my older brother and I can be your younger brother!"
Yutaka looked down in shock at the little Kanbara's proposal.
"…I don't think that'll work, squirt." Yutaka frowned, continuing down the hall.
"Why not?" Shinya snickered. "You're bossy enough to be Takuya."
Yutaka froze. Was that what the boy's suggestion was about? He glanced back at Shinya again who was now preoccupied looking up at a part of the mural depicting the Zoe girl fighting a water nymph or something. Only now could Yutaka see the lost expression on the little boy's face. Shinya Kanbara was only a few months older than Tommy was and even though he'd only known the child for a couple of days he could tell that the boy and his brother shared so many of the same qualities… and one of them was obviously a hero-worship complex aimed towards Takuya.
Yutaka leaned against the wall and watched the little… youngest Kanbara stare mournfully at a flaming depiction of Takuya fighting some brown dirt creature thing.
"…They'll come back… won't they?"
Yutaka was jerked out of his thoughts as Shinya whispered that sad question, but still faced the part of the mural he was studying.
"They'll come back won't they?" Shinya asked again in a slightly stronger voice, but it still wavered. "Takuya, Tommy and the others will come back, right? …They have to…"
Yutaka watched the little boy as his shoulders began to shake with silent sobs, but Shinya remained as he was, shoulders straight and his eyes never leaving the heroic depiction of his missing older brother. Yutaka pondered that question for a moment. But what if none of them came back? What if all of those children were stuck in that other world? What if he never saw Tommy again? His heart seized up at the thought.
He had always been hard on Tommy. The boy had always gotten whatever he'd wanted from their parents and Yutaka had resented his brother for that. He'd watched Tommy grow up spoiled and coddled by their parents when he hadn't while growing up and it had made Yutaka resentful. When Tommy had started getting bullied he hadn't done much to prevent it because he'd thought that Tommy had deserved it…
But half a year ago that seemed to have changed. Tommy was no longer bullied – in fact he now played soccer with the same boys that used to bully him – and he had started acting more respectful towards Yutaka. He'd even thanked him for no real apparent reason out of the blue the next time Yutaka had come home from college. It was like his spoiled baby brother had finally grown up. Of course their parents still spoiled the kid rotten, but Yutaka had been surprised to see Tommy turn most of their offers down. For the first two months Yutaka couldn't wrap his head around the change that had come over his brother… until the first time he'd seen Takuya Kanbara hanging out with Tommy.
The hero-worship in his little brother's eyes towards the other boy had been obvious to him. This Takuya kid was two or three years older than Tommy was and Yutaka hated that while watching the other boy he couldn't find much fault in him. Sure Takuya appeared to be a little full of himself – especially in his soccer abilities, but those boasts turned out to be well founded – and he was a little on the reckless side, but what Yutaka hated most about the boy was that he could see why Tommy seemed to worship his older friend. Looking back on it now, Yutaka could definitely see why Takuya was represented as a hero in all of these murals. …And now that hero was missing from both his world and the screen that had been monitoring him ever since he and the other "chosen" children had been spirited away to that foreign Digital World.
Regret and guilt flooded Yutaka as he realized why he'd hated Takuya Kanbara. It was because Takuya Kanbara had been more of an older brother to Tommy than Yutaka had ever been. Yutaka had only been full of spite and contempt when it came to Tommy. It was no wonder that Tommy practically worshiped Shinya's older brother… because Takuya was so obviously the older brother that Tommy had wanted… and deserved to have.
"Yutaka?"
Shinya's soft voice broke him out of his thoughts and to his utter mortification he realized that he'd started crying as the traitorous tears trailed down his cheeks. Yutaka let out an exasperated huff as he roughly rubbed the tears away, but stopped when he felt a small hand clutch at the hem of his unzipped hoodie.
"…It's okay to cry you know, especially if you're sad or really upset," Shinya said, smiling nervously up at him. "…Takuya once told me that it takes more strength to cry than not to and that it's nothing to be ashamed of… I promise that I won't tell anyone."
Yutaka stared down at the small boy numbly before he allowed himself a sad smile. He kneeled down so that he was at Shinya's level and pulled the small boy into a loose hug.
"The same could be said for you, kid," he muttered, forcing himself to relax when Shinya shuddered, sniffed, and then buried his face in the front of Yutaka's T-shirt.
Yutaka pulled the little Kanbara boy a little closer before looking up at the depiction of Takuya. He might not have been able to be much of an older brother to Tommy and he wasn't really sure if any of the children that now found themselves in that strange Digital World would ever return, but he vowed that he'd start over with Tommy if he ever got the chance… For the moment Yutaka was content to start with Shinya. If Takuya could take up the role of Tommy's older brother in Yutaka's absence, then Yutaka resolved then and there to be there for Shinya while both of their brothers were gone. It wasn't much and Yutaka knew that he had a lot to learn about how to be a good older brother… but it was a start.
Tamer DigiDestined World: Location: Hypnos Headquarters
Daisy sat silently in the driver's seat as she drove the equipment van towards the children's park. Shibumi was seated beside her in the passenger's seat mumbling to himself as he looked over various notes piled in his lap as he went over his calculations. Daisy had to admire the man's persistence. The man was a genius, but had never boasted about it and always made sure to check and double check his work like anyone else. That was part of the reason so many people liked the man. He never acted superior to those around him. Instead he was amazingly child-like. He was like that boy who'd sworn to never grow up.
"Turn here," Shibumi said suddenly, breaking her from her wandering thoughts. "We'll take the bike trail through the park. It'll make it easier for us to cart all this equipment up to where we need to get it."
Daisy nodded and followed his instructions. They were parked beside one of the bike trails minutes later. Because they were technically parked in the middle of a lane, Daisy placed cones around the vehicle while Shibumi prepared their equipment for transport. It was still very early in the morning so there was little difficulty there. It was a long process getting all of the equipment Shibumi had brought along down the bike trail and up to the part of the park where Takato and the other children had disappeared. It took them many trips and by the time they had everything before the staircase that led to the structure that Takato had been keeping Guilmon in, there were many people now up and about. However, though Shibumi and Daisy had seen many joggers and couples pass them by there were no children playing in the park. When Daisy pointed this out to Shibumi the man sighed and ran a hand through his receding hairline.
"What happened over the last few days to Takato and the other children has been aired on TV all over the world," he pointed out. "Parents are afraid of letting their children play here in case they're dragged off to that Digital World as well."
"I see," Daisy sighed sadly. "Even though it's an unlikely occurrence, parents will still fear for the safety of their children."
"Right," Shibumi nodded. "Now let's focus on bringing Takato and the others back. We need to get all of this set up."
The next few hours were spent carrying the computer components up the steps and into the building. It didn't surprise either of them that many of the parents had shown up to help them move the heavy equipment. Daisy was grateful for the assistance since she was pretty sure that it would have been nearly impossible for Shibumi and herself to move it all on their own. Around noon the Matsukis brought a freshly baked lunch for everyone from their bakery that they'd temporarily reopened for the morning while cooking. After that most of the parents headed back to Hypnos HQ to see how things were going on Yamaki and Janyu's end.
It was a quiet afternoon while Shibumi and Daisy hooked up all of the components that they'd brought with help from Hirofumi Shiota and Shiyunsuke Kitagawa who were familiar with computers themselves. But no one was of any help when it came to the actual programming part so Daisy and Shibumi were left to their work in peace. The two Hypnos agents threw themselves into their work to such a degree that they hadn't noticed that the sun had set and that it was a time that most people would be sitting down to dinner. That is until Mayumi Wong and Tadashi Katou brought them dinner.
"Thanks," Daisy sighed. "Now that you mention it, Mayumi, I am hungry."
"You two have been working so hard," Mayumi said, smiling. "I'd figured that it was about time you two got a break."
Daisy smiled up at the two parents who'd come to offer her some relief from the work she'd been doing, but then noticed that Shibumi hadn't budged an inch.
"Shibumi, give it a rest for now," Daisy sighed tiredly. "Let's have something to eat."
"…YES!" Shibumi cried, punching the air with a fist.
The sudden exclamation made Daisy, Mayumi and Tadashi jump.
"What is it?" Daisy asked, rushing over to her friend's station.
"I've managed to break through the barrier and was able to send a message!" Shibumi cried excitedly.
"You were?!" Daisy gasped, looking over his shoulder to scan the readings on his computer screen. "…We're actually getting a response from the Digital World…"
"Now all that's left is to wait and see if Azulongmon will respond," Shibumi beamed just before his computer beeped.
"That didn't take long at all," Daisy said, grinning.
"Right," Shibumi sighed, nodding. "Now let's see what he has to say…"
The Adventure Digital World: Location: Gennai's Base
Hiroaki was preparing to go with Gennai to Infinity Mountain, packing the few things that he had and thought that he might need. He didn't have much, only what he'd had on him when he was brought to the Digital World.
"…Hiroaki?"
He looked up and saw a nervous looking Nancy standing in the doorway of his small room.
"Nancy," he nodded back to her.
She looked down for a moment before eyeing his pack.
"…Why didn't you tell me that you had been a DigiDestined just like TK and Matt?" she asked.
Hiroaki chuckled.
"Would you have believed me?" he sighed.
"No…" she admitted. "But you could have told me after what happened at the TV station with Myotismon."
"What good would that have done?" Hiroaki asked tiredly. "Nancy, to be honest I'd done my best to forget all about this world until the day Matt returned from summer camp with Gabumon. Seeing his Digimon in the real world made me search for my old Digivice. I've kept it close to me ever since… During that time some part of me was hoping that my old partner would show up. Another part of me feared it. But I knew that Matt would be safe if he had Gabumon with him… Do you know why I felt fine leaving Matt with Gabumon?"
Nancy shook her head.
"…My Digimon partner was also a Gabumon." Hiroaki smiled. "He didn't digivolve into a Garurumon like Matt's Gabumon does, so I was a little surprised to see him when Matt showed up at the TV station. …Nancy, our boys are going to be just fine so long as they have their Digimon with them. Those Digimon will do whatever it takes to protect them… They will put their very lives on the line if that's what it takes."
A sad look entered Hiroaki's eyes as he returned his attention to his pack before shrugging it onto his shoulders. Nancy nodded wordlessly and followed him out of his room as he headed down the hall to meet up with Gennai in the lounge/common room. Gennai wasn't there yet, but all of the other parents were.
"How are things going with the children?" he asked.
Susumu Kamiya was closest and had heard him.
"Nothing much," the father of his son's best friend said. "They've bedded down for the night and are now changing watch shifts for the first time tonight.
Hiroaki nodded and looked up at the screens, watching like all of the other parents were. It was quiet until a soft voice drew their attention to one of the screens. It was the twins from the Warrior DigiDestined group.
"I can't let you do that," the twin with the longer hair sighed with a suppressed yawn.
"Yes you can," the other twin chuckled softly. "Besides, I'm not even tired yet. Honest. It'll be alright, Koji. I don't mind being out here in the dark."
"I bet," Kari's voice said darkly as she passed them, coming into view on the shorter haired twin's screen.
The long haired twin glared at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"Why should he mind the dark?" Kari shrugged. "It's only his element. The darkness of the night must be a real comfort to him."
Hiroaki glanced at the girl's parents and saw shocked expressions flicker across their faces.
"It is rather calming," Koichi said, smiling, obviously trying to dispel the increasingly hostile and awkward tension that was growing. "Especially out here where-"
"I knew it," Kari scoffed. "You're actually enjoying our situation, aren't you?"
"I beg your pardon?" Koichi inquired politely.
Susumu and Yuko traded nervous glances.
Other children that had been sleeping nearby had awoken upon hearing Kari's raising voice. It had also attracted the attention of the others changing watch shifts as well. Hiroaki nodded slightly in approval as he watched Tai and Matt's screens and saw them hurry over to the scene to see what was going on. Those two would straighten things out.
"Only an agent of darkness would find this place soothing. Especially at night," Kari spat, surprising her parents even more. They'd never seen Kari like this.
Koji's hands balled into fists.
"What's going on here?" Tai asked as he and Matt finally arrived with Davis on their heels.
"I'm not quite sure," poor Koichi blinked, glancing between his increasingly enraged twin and Kari.
"Don't play that game," Kari growled.
"I honestly don't –!" Koichi spluttered.
WHAP!
Everyone in the observation room gasped at the sound of the slap that echoed around the room. Koichi remained frozen where he stood, shocked. His cheek slowly turned pink, forming a welt from the hard slap that Kari had just given him.
"Don't play dumb," she cried. "I won't let you make me out to be a fool."
"You seem to be doing that yourself," Koji told her softly.
The parents noticed that she didn't hear the dark warning undertone in the boy's voice, but apparently Matt had. To everyone's relief the older boy entered Kari's screen.
"I think that's enough, Kari," Matt said, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to placate her. "You're tired. You're saying things you don't really mean. Why don't you switch shifts with Yolei? You can have her later shift so that you can get some more sleep."
"I'm fine," Kari insisted. "He's the problem. I don't trust him. Who could trust anyone with darkness as their attribute?"
The parents traded concerned glances as they and Koichi finally understood the reason for Kari's hostilities. They were worried however because it looked like Koji had just about snapped after hearing Kari's latest comment. Thankfully Koichi grabbed his twin's arm. Koji glared at his twin, but relaxed his fist. Kari had seen the glare and the raised fist but she appeared to have mistaken its meaning.
"Humph," she sighed. "Not even your twin trusts you."
That did it. The parents filched as they watched Koji raised the fist again, when –
WHAP!
Everyone gasped and Kari's eyes flew wide open as she recoiled from the slap. Everyone stood stunned. They had been expecting Koji to hit her, so no one had expected Tai. His hand was still raised, arm tense, as if shocked by the action it had just committed, but his face was a mask of disappointment and sorrow. Yuko Kamiya pursed her lips but could tell that her son hadn't enjoyed hitting his sister.
"Tai?" Kari's voice gasped over the speakers, obviously stunned and hurt by her brother's actions.
"That's enough, Kari," her brother said softly. "Do as Matt suggested and switch watches with Yolei."
"Why?" Kari cried. "Why'd you hit me? Are you taking their side?"
"I'm taking no one's side," he answered simply. "You went too far, Kari. I'd usually demand that you give an apology, but I can see that you won't at the moment. Now go get Yolei… On second thought, wake Sora. She can have your shift instead. Yolei can keep hers. I want you to sleep and think about what you've said tonight."
He walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek that he'd slapped.
"I know you'll do the right thing in the end," his voice whispered softly through the speakers. "You always do. Now go to sleep and clear your head."
Kari stared numbly at him, the disbelief evident in her eyes, but Yuko and Susumu sighed, grateful that their son had appeared to have effectively defused the embarrassing situation.
Tai turned away from his sister, their conversation over, and looked at the twins before him.
"So who's taking the shift?" He asked.
"I am, like I said I would," Koji stated.
Tai nodded. "All right then. Koichi, do you know where you're sleeping?"
The poor boy looked like the question threw him for a moment. The parents couldn't blame him for being nervous after his unexpected confrontation with Kari.
Thankfully Tai saw the boy's indecision and smiled softly.
"Why don't you join Davis and I? Our spot's a little far from the fire, but we've got Agumon to keep us warm. He's practically a walking space heater with that Pepper Breath of his."
"Yeah!" Davis grinned the moment Tai suggested it. "You can have the spot next to me and Ken. We'll even save a spot for you, Koji, so you can join us after your shift!"
Koji nodded his thanks at Davis, the relief on his face all too clear.
"All right…" Koichi smiled, but glanced hesitantly at his twin, who squeezed his hand comfortingly.
"Great!" Matt said, clapping his hands together. "Now that that's settled, Koji, you and I have a watch shift to start. See the rest of you in the morning!"
"Yeah," Tai yawned. "Let's hit the hay guys."
The parents watching sighed with relief when Tai led Davis and the Koichi boy off someplace to sleep with Davis chatting away animatedly.
"I think Tai handled that situation really well," Hiroaki said gently to the embarrassed Kamiyas.
"Yes," Mel Motomiya instantly agreed, taking Yuko's hand in hers. "Kari looked really tired. I'm sure she didn't mean to say all of those things."
"Oh she meant them all right," Jim Kido muttered under his breath, but no one but Jun Motomiya and Hiroaki seemed to have heard him.
The other parents in the room came over to reassure the Kamiyas that Kari couldn't have been in the right frame of mind when she'd confronted Koichi Kimura, but Hiroaki felt that the boy's parents probably wouldn't see it that way. If Koichi had been Matt or TK, Hiroaki knew that he'd take offense. As far as Hiroaki knew, Koichi had meant no offense and didn't deserve to be attacked like that. It saddened Hiroaki slightly to realize how black and white their children must see things.
"Quite a ruckus going on in here," someone mused beside him.
Looking up, Hiroaki spotted Gennai who had finally arrived.
"Are you ready, Hiroaki?" the digital man asked.
Hiroaki only nodded. Everyone in the room then seemed to realize that Gennai was present. Knowing his purpose, many came up to Hiroaki to wish him luck. Nancy was unsurprisingly at the front of the group. Though they had been divorced for many years now, Hiroaki knew that some part of him still loved his ex and liked to believe that some small part of her was still in love with him. He offered up a small smile before turning on his heel to wordlessly follow Gennai out of the lounge to the debriefing room where he would meet the Digimon that they were going to be scaling Infinity Mountain with. He recognized Centarumon and Elecmon and a few others, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw the last Digimon in their party.
"Hello, Hiroaki," the Digimon smiled. "It's been a long time."
"…Too long," Hiroaki smiled as tears filled his eyes. "It's good to see you again, Gabumon."
A Gabumon, much like his eldest son's, stood a little taller with a flash of mischief in those amber eyes. His voice was light but firm unlike Matt's Gabumon's low and deep overtones. The only physical difference between Matt's Gabumon and Hiroaki's was that Hiroaki's Gabumon's fur overcoat had silver grey-stripes on blue instead of blue on silver-grey.
Hiroaki kneeled down to his Digimon partner's eye level and hugged him.
"I've missed you my old friend," he whispered.
"Me too," the Digimon chuckled. "Now that the greetings have been exchanged, how's about you and I team up again to see if we can't get your sons and their friends home?"
Hiroaki nodded and pulled out his digivice that began to shine brilliantly, reactivating now that human and Digimon partners were reunited once more.
"Let's do this."
Hiroaki is reunited with his old partner? Nice! What was in Azulongmon's reply to Shibumi and in the Adventure Digital World how will the trek up to Infinity Mountain go? I guess you're just going to have to find out for yourself next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!
Ok so we've got some plot moving on this. Great! I loved writing that first third with Shinya and Yutaka. I really kinda made Yutaka into an enemy character but he had already been made into a kind of antagonist for Tommy in the anime. Hopefully I made him a more sympathetic character. I was at a loss at what to write for Tamers, but then it hit me to do Daisy. She and Shibumi are my favorites of the Monster Makers and I love writing stuff for them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the wait. PLEASE review!