"I'm very pleased with your new Digivolution." Rika said, basking in the coolness of the night. Nearby stood Renamon, perched daintily atop a statue. Rika couldn't help but to think of the times when she was so unsure whether or not she would ever get to see Renamon again. But now the distance between them felt like it was nothing.
"Good." Renamon cooly replied.
"But despite everything you know what pleases me the most?" She asked, a small smile on her face.
"No, what?" Renamon questioned, turning her attention to look at Rika.
"How heroic you look, standing there in the moonlight." Before Renamon had a chance to reply Rika pedaled away on her bike, and if that wasn't just so quintessentially Rika. To give a compliment and then run. Renamon smiled and darted away, following Rika at a distance, ensuring that her tamer, no, her partner got home safely.
Rika put away her bike and checked the time, wincing. It was somewhat late, and she couldn't help but to hope that her grandmother was already in bed, instead of staying up, waiting for Rika to arrive home, worried that she wouldn't appear. But the lights in the house were still on so odds were she was, and guilt gnawed away at Rika's stomach as she entered the house, taking off her shoes before heading to the living room.
"Rika!" She felt her eyebrows shoot up. She had forgotten that her mom was coming home as she was rushed by the woman, who embraced her in a solid hug.
"Mom." Rika whined, trying to squirm free from her ironclad arms.
"I'm so sorry I missed you earlier! I was out visiting an old friend and lost track of the time, please forgive me love." Her mom broke away from the hug and clasped her hands. Rika rolled her eyes.
"You're fine mom, I've been with friends a lot recently." Instantly she perked up, excitement written all over her face.
"Oh! My Rika with friends, how exciting. There wouldn't happen to be a very special boy in the mix? Perhaps a special girl?" Ah yes, this was exactly why she made TK jump the fence the other day.
"No mom, they're just friends." In her exasperation Rika failed to notice her mother's gaze, that landed on her digivice on her hip, and stared at it just a little too long.
oOo
"TK…" TK froze on his way up the stairs, ready to tuck into bed. The past few days had been a little crazy with a lot going on, and he felt the ache somewhere deep in his bones. Mr. Matsuki was sitting on an armchair in the family room, bent forward pensively, a lamp behind him lit and making him almost look like a silhouette. TK suddenly was overwhelmed with the feeling that he had done something wrong and disappointed his 'father'. Or like he was about to get sucked into a staged intervention.
With cautious and slow feet TK moved from the stairs into the living room, and at Mr. Matsuki's gesture took a seat on the couch facing him. In his pocket TK nervously pressed the buttons of his digivice, and he nervously bit his lip. The look aMr Matsuki had fixed on him sent a chill up his spine and seemed to scream that something bad was on the horizon.
Mr. Matsuki's eyes were intent, and his mouth opened a few times before he said anything.
"Takato is going on vacation to visit his cousin in a few days." He said, and it was clear, from the way his jaw was still clenched and his hand was shoved in his jacket pocket, seeming to fiddle with something, that this was not what he wanted to say. That Mr. Matsuki had something else down inside of his gut that he wanted to say to TK., but that for one reason or another he dared not.
"Oh, that sounds… fun?" TK replied, not sure what was the correct response, the expected response.
"He's been asking for a while, when you haven't been here, whether or not you can come. Henry is already going to tag along with him and see the island. So after some discussion we decided that you should go as well. Help keep Takato in line."
"I don't want to impose myself on you more." TK said hastily, raising his hands, fully aware that planes rides weren't cheap. "You're already giving me a place to eat and sleep." He explained, but Mr. Matsuki was already shaking his head, a small smile on his face and most of the tension from previous was gone.
"We really want you to go - if nothing else do it for Takato." And finally, TK let a grin spread across his face.
"Okay." TK said, letting out a breath of air from his lungs.
"Great. We'll help you get all packed in the next couple of days. With Takato and Henry I'm not too worried about one of you three getting lost on the way, but just in case we'll fix you up with a phone or something to help keep everyone in touch." Mr. Matsuki stood up and began to walk out of the room. He paused right before turning down the hallway into the kitchens, not facing TK, and suddenly the thick and tension rich air was back.
"TK." He said the word and let it sit on his tongue for a moment, like he was tasting it. Like he was trying to determine what it's components were. "You'll be staying with my sister's boy, Kai. He's very sweet and a little hot tempered, just like her. Like my whole family really." His eyes were expectantly on TK's face. "Her name is Jun."
TK wasn't sure what his face looked like as his mind went a million miles a minute, trying to figure out what that meant. What Mr. Matsuki was trying to say. He had known a very small handful of Jun's in his life, but only one that was actually relevant to him. Davis' older sister, so much like him and his wild mane of hair and short fuse. Eager to tease someone. But that was Davis, Davis Motomiya. Not Matsuki.
Whatever of those thoughts were displayed on his face, he wasn't sure what Mr. Matsuki read and extrapolated. But there was a small nod, and then he proceeded down the hallway to the kitchens. Leaving TK sitting on the couch, mind going a million miles a minute.
oOo
"You," The word is echoed through a void, with a surreal quality to it. Double layered voices that meld together into a single message, a single being. "...you are all that is left of Apoclymon's data. My duty is to finish what my partners started." Omnimon continued, staring coldly at the strange, grotesque digimon in front of him.
"Ahhh, you've finally found me. But you can't catch me, and you know you can't. Those partners that you speak so highly of, they've abandoned you. Abandoned you at the worst time, and now you're stuck here." He taunted.
"I know what you plan to do, and I will stop you." Omnimon was almost hard to look at, a figure seemingly composed of pure light amid the pure darkness, his bright white armor gleaming from an inner light.
"You may have caught on, but you'll never win. I will reign supreme!" With a of his his hand Omnimon summoned his sword and launched forward, swiping it in a wide arc. "Sorry, Omnimon, but I really must go. Have fun In Between." The void seemed suck in around him, space folding in on itself until he was gone. Leaving Omnimon alone, surrounded by thick and suffocating darkness.
oOo
"So, this cousin of yours, what's he like?" Henry asked, moving around impatiently in his seat on the plane.
"He's really nice and carefree. Fit's perfectly with island life. I think it's because my Aunt is busy supporting him, so he spends most of his time with his grandpa - the one we don't share. So, he kind of gets to be his own person." Takato sifted through his bag for a second before pulling out a small rectangular picture. "I actually have a picture of him." Henry, Terriermon, and Takato all leaned forward eagerly. Henry lightly bapped Terriermon.
"Stop moving, people are going to notice." He berated and Terriermon rolled his eyes.
"You give other people too much credit." Terriermon replied and Henry gave a long suffering sigh.
The picture showed a small Takato, his hair going in a bout ten million different directions, sand sticking to his skin and grinning up at the camera, proudly in front of a sandcastle. With an arm slung around Takato was another small boy, around the same age, with much tanner skin and dark brown hair, giving a wide smile.
"Awww, you look adorable." TK cooed.
"It's been a long time since I last saw him." Takato said, looking at the photo fondly. "We've been emailing, but it's been a while since we've been face to face."
The plane landed at last, and all three of the Tamers welcomed the chance to stand up and stretch their legs. It took infinitely too long to finally get off the plane, and finally when they emerged it was like a breath of fresh air. The small group headed down to collect their luggage, watching as the bags went around in a circle, trying to spy the ones that belonged to them in the mix.
Takato's was easy to spot - it was the only one that was moving around.
"Shhhh, Guilmon be quiet." Takato hissed anxiously at his bag as Henry and TK helped to get it off the moving belt, and TK couldn't quite hear what Guilmon replied, but it certainly was quieter than before, so that was in improvement.
"I'm going to head out." Henry said, hefting his bag onto his shoulders. "I think Terriermon and I would both appreciate not being surrounded by people for a bit. Call us if you guys decide to come to the main island though." He held up his phone to emphasize his point. "It'd be great to get together with you guys again before we head back."
"Definitely!" Takato replied with a broad smile. "We should probably head out to now that we have our bags - I feel bad for making Guilmon fit into a bag like this." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But it was the better option when it was this or leave him alone at home with only Rika to watch over him."
"I mean, there's also Kazu and Kenta." TK pointed out, and Henry gave a little laugh.
"Look, I love Kazu and Kenta as much as the next guy, but if we're honest they'd only enable Guilmon getting into trouble."
"That's a good point." TK admitted. "So I guess when it was leave him to Rika's spartan training or almost definitely letting the Gatomon out of the bag. Not really much of a choice."
Henry bid the two of them farewell and TK and Takato went to try and locate Takato's cousin. The nearby sound of a television attracted TK's attention.
"Tamashiro, tell us more about your new V-pet!" A female news reporter asked with oversaturated enthusiasm. She held a microphone up to a man's fake, smile so wide TK wouldn't be surprised if it split his face in half.
"He looks funny." A small voice said and TK jumped as a weight settled onto his head. He reached up and grabbed the small soft creature, bringing his hands down to see that he held Calumon, who looked at him and beamed.
"Calumon, how in the world did you get here?!" He asked with surprise, swiveling his head around nervously to see how much attention Calumon had attracted. Nearby Takato was still looking around, trying to spot anyone that looked familiar.
"I was in your bag!" He chirped happily and TK had to resist the urgh to smack his forehead. He should have checked more thoroughly. But if Calumon was here then Calumon was here.
"Act like a stuffed animal." TK pleaded.
"What's a stuffed animal?" Calumon asked as he played with TK's fingers.
"Just… don't move." He said with a sigh.
"KAI?!" Takato suddenly shouted, posture rigid and surprised. TK hurried over to investigate. Takato was looking at the television screen from earlier, eyes wide. There was a boy on the screen being shoved away from the microphone by the newscaster who's plaster smile was beginning to crumble.
"Look kid this is an interview." The interviewee began. TK never did get the rest of whatever it was he was saying as he chased after Takato who had taken off further into the airport, managing to lug the Guilmon suitcase with remarkable strength when it came down to it. The cameramen came into view and Takato left the suitcase behind, hurrying into the fray. Moments later he reappeared with the boy. Introductions were exchanged and they hurried to the ferry.
"Oh, we're so close." TK said excitedly as the ferry approached a small lush and green island.
"We're here." Kai said and shot TK and Takato a devilish grin before hoisting over the side of the ferry and jumping into the water.
"Kai, what have I told you about doing that?!" The ferryman yelled, and from the water Kai just laughed.
"Kai!" Takato shouted frantically.
"I'll meet you at the island!" He called back and started to swim to the beach. .
"So, I hope you know where this place is, because we just lost our guide." TK commented and Takato sent him a very uneasy look.