This chapter was supposed to be done and posted last week, but I got behind with it. Thank you for being patient with me. I realize things are slow going with the plot and that should be changing after the next chapter. If some of you haven't figure it out, this is going to be a long story. It's probably not going to be as long as I anticipate, but it's not going to ten short chapters either, so get ready.


In the morning, Yume stepped out of her room to find her brothers already up and running around the apartment and being loud.

"Mom, where's my soccer ball?" Ichiro called from the boys' room.

"I'm missing a sneaker!" Fuyu yelled from the front door where they kept their shoes.

"Mom, Fuyu says I'm too little to play with them!" Seiji whined, sounding like he was in the kitchen.

"I did not!" Fuyu snapped.

"Never mind, I found it!" Ichiro announced. He walked out of the bedroom with a soccer ball under one arm.

"Boys, get along," Mrs. Naito said.

"Yeah, Fuyu. Seiji can play with us," said Ichiro.

"Boys," Mrs. Naito said firmly. She sighed. "Fuyu, be nice to your brother. Seiji, don't whine. Ichiro, watch them. I know you want to play with your friends, but you need to keep an eye on your siblings."

"I do, Mom," said Ichiro. He saw Yume standing outside her room. "Hey, Yume. Do you want to play soccer with us?"

Yume shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm going to play with Kari since she's feeling better."

"Get your breakfast before you leave," Mrs. Naito told her.

While her brothers left, Yume hopped up to the table to eat her breakfast. The morning news was on the television.

"And now, today's top story: the monsters that are plaguing the city," said the news announcer. "Still no official comment on where the creatures are from or what they might be after."

Yume looked up at the screen and saw the video of a giant, blob-like monster with big round eyes and a large mouth climbing out of the harbor. The camera cut back to the news announcer.

"We will keep you updated throughout the day," the announcer went on. "Meanwhile in other news, health officials report young women all over the city are being hospitalized for anemia. No word on if the cases are connected, but doctors are voicing concern that so many seemingly healthy young women are being struck down so suddenly."

"Mom, what's anemia?" Yume asked.

"Hmm?"

"Anemia. What is it?"

Mrs. Naito turned from the kitchen sink. "Where did you hear that word?"

"The news man just said it on TV," Yume replied. "He said that people were suddenly getting sick with anemia. Am I going to get it?"

"You don't have to worry about that, Yume. You're not going to get it."

"But what is it?" Yume asked.

"It's something people get when they don't eat healthy foods," replied Mrs. Naito. "The body needs certain things that can be found in healthy foods to make it work right. Anemia happens when a person doesn't eat the healthy things that help with their blood to work. It can also happen if you get really hurt. That's why when you're hurt or sick that you eat well so your body has what it needs to fix itself."

"So all those people just suddenly got sick because they ate the wrong food?" Yume asked worriedly. "So does that mean I can't have sweets anymore? And what if I get hurt?"

"You can have sweets," said Mrs. Naito. "Anemia isn't something that happens just because you eat the wrong food now and then. You have to eat it all the time. And you won't get that hurt. Mommy won't let that happen. Now, why don't you forget all about this and go play with Kari, hmm? Have fun, but please be back for dinner."

"Okay," Yume said, still a little worried.

By the time she finished her breakfast, Yume had forgotten all her worries about getting sick. She got her backpack full of activities and went to play with Kari.

Standing outside of the Kamiyas' apartment were two people. One was a boy about Fuyu's age. He was wearing an orange shirt, green pants, and was carrying a laptop on his back. The other was shorter, hunched over in a sweatshirt and had a hat on.

"Hi," Yume greeted.

Both of them startled. The hunched over figure quickly retreated behind the boy. Yume could see the person in the sweatshirt wasn't human at all. It looked like a giant pink bug with green eyes.

"Uh, hi?" the boy said warily.

"You're friends with Tai, aren't you?" Yume said.

"Yeah. How did you know?" the boy asked.

Yume pointed behind him. "That's a Digimon. Right?"

Their eyes got big.

"No! It's just a costume," the boy said with a nervous smile, waving her off. "I don't even know what a Digimon is!"

The door opened and Tai stepped out with a familiar orange dinosaur wearing a blue sweatshirt with the hood up.

"Hey, Yume," Tai greeted.

"Hi, Tai. Hi, Koromon," Yume responded.

This shocked the two visitors again.

"I'm Agumon now that I digivolved," the little dinosaur told her.

"Okay. Who are your friends?"

"This is Izzy and his Digmon partner, Tentomon," Tai replied.

"Nice to meet you," they both replied.

Yume giggled. The Digimon's voice sounded nasally and like a bug that would buzz around. She liked it.

"She knows about Digimon?" Izzy asked.

"She was here when I came back the first time," said Tai. "Listen, Yume, if you and Kari are going to go out and play, be careful."

"We're always careful," said Yume.

"It's not that," said Tai. "A lot of evil Digimon came through to the real world."

"I saw the news," said Yume. "Like the ogre, right?"

"Worse. These guys are a lot meaner and are causing a lot of damage to the city," said Tai. "If you see them, run away. Okay?"

Yume nodded. "Okay."

"All right. We need to meet up with the rest of our friends and make a plan on how to fight back," Tai said. "I'll see you later, Yume."

"Bye, Tai. Bye, Agumon. It was nice meeting you, Izzy and Tentomon."

"It was nice meeting you, too," said Tentomon.

Yume giggled as they walked down the hall. She turned to the door and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Kamiya opened it a moment later.

"Hi, Yume. Are you here to play with Kari?"

Yume nodded. "Is it okay?"

"It's fine. Kari's feeling a lot better."

"Hi, Yume!" Kari was dressed in her yellow shirt, pink shorts, with a pink scarf and camp whistle around her neck. She looked up at her mother. "Can we go play outside, Mom?"

"Sure, sweetie," said Mrs. Kamiya. "But don't overdo it. We don't want you getting sick again."

"I won't," said Kari. She grabbed her shoes and Yume's hand. "Let's go!"

The two girls ran down the hall to the elevator.

"What's the hurry?" Yume asked, pressing the button for the elevator.

Kari put her shoes on. "I can't find Meeko. I don't think she came back last night."

"Then it looks like this is a job for the animal rescuer!" Yume said dramatically. "Don't worry, miss, I'll find your cat!"

Kari giggled.

They began their search in a nearby park.

"Did Tai tell you anything about his adventure?" Yume asked.

"He said that some evil Digimon came through to our world," she said. "They're searching for another kid like Tai and he and the other Digidestined are trying to find the kid before Myotismon does."

"Myotismon?" asked Yume.

Kari nodded. "He's the big bad guy the other evil Digimon follow."

"I hope Tai and the others find this kid first," said Yume.

The girls searched all over for the cat with little luck. A few people they asked had seen Meeko, but when they looked around where she had been last seen she wasn't there.

It was very hot that day and both girls were getting hungry. Yume found some money in her backpack and they went to a corner store to buy their lunches. They sat under a tree and ate their lunch, trying to figure out what they were going to do next.

"I really hope we find her soon," said Kari. "She usually comes back right away if she gets out. I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is. People have seen her. We just have to find her." Yume looked down at the food in her lap. "I have an idea. Does Meeko like chicken?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Yume held up the chicken she had left. "What if we can lure her with this?"

"That could work," said Kari. "But we still need to find her."

Yume started rubbing the chicken on her fingers. "If she smells it, maybe she'll come to us. Come on!" She jumped up and ran off.

"Wait for me!" Kari called, getting up to run after her.

They wandered the park with pieces of chicken.

"Meeko!" they called.

"Meeko, I have a treat for you," Yume bribed.

"Meeko, where are you?" Kari called. She then spotted the brown and white cat. "Meeko! Yume, I found her!"

The cat saw Kari and ran away.

"Meeko! Come back here!" Kari gave chase but she wasn't fast enough and she lost sight of her. "Where'd you go? Meeko!"

Yume came running with the chicken in her hand. "Here, Meeko! Do you want a treat?" She tripped and went sliding across the grass.

"Are you okay?" Kari asked.

"Yeah," Yume whimpered, sitting up. She had dirt all over her clothes, but she still had the chicken in her hand.

"Maybe we should go home," said Kari.

"What about Meeko?" Yume asked.

"She was heading in the direction of our building," said Kari. "We really need to get you cleaned up."

Yume looked at the dirt all down the front of her overalls. "Mom's not going to be happy."

Kari helped Yume to her feet and they started walking back to their apartment building. As they made their way out of the park, they walked passed a white cat with yellow front paws, purple on the tips of its ears, and a white and purple tail with a gold ring on the end. Kari and Yume stopped and watched it go.

"What a funny looking kitty," Kari said.

The cat looked over its shoulder with big blue eyes.

"Yeah," Yume agreed.

They stared at each other for several seconds.

"Hi, there," Kari said to the cat. "Are you a friend of Agumon?"

The cat turned around to face them with confusion.

"Are you one of them?" Kari asked.

The cat started meowing, but the voice sounded odd. It sounded almost like a girl's voice trying to mimic a cat.

The girls crouched down.

Yume held out the chicken she still had. "Want some?"

The cat turned up her nose at the chicken.

"What's your name?" Kari asked.

The strange cat meowed several more times before running off.

"Wait! Don't go!" Kari called.

"Let her go, Kari," said Yume. "That was a cool looking cat though. She looks like she'd fit in with Merlin."

The two girls continued back to their apartment building.

"Did you redraw Merlin?" Kari asked.

Yume shook her head. "I went to bed and actually slept last night. I ate dinner and put the presents my brothers got me away and went to bed."

"No bad dreams?"

"No bad dreams. But the lavender stars were back again," said Yume. "Hey, my brothers found a necklace with the same color star on it! I'll have to show you some time."

The two girls ran back to the apartment, both aware they had someone following them. Yume had done a little dancing around while they were laughing and had noticed the white and purple cat following them. The girls took the stairs up to their floor to see if the cat would continue to follow them. She did.

Kari looked down the hall. "Hey, I know you're there!" she called to the cat.

The cat cried out in surprise from where she was watching them from around the corner and jumped back.

Kari opened the door. "You can come in if you want to. Mom's not home."

Kari and Yume went inside, leaving the door open. The girls went into the living area to watch television.

"I don't think I should sit on the sofa," Yume said, looking at the white sofa and then at her dirty clothes.

"You can wear my shorts," said Kari. She ran into the bedroom grabbed a pair of pink shorts.

Yume took off her dirty overalls and put the shorts on before sitting on the sofa. Kari clicked on the news.

"Weather experts can't explain the unseasonable fog," the female news announcer reported. "In fact, they have no explanation for any of the bizarre weather conditions we've been having, including this heatwave."

Yume lost interest in the news and got out her sketchbook and started redrawing her wizard character. She found the indigo crayon again and a tan crayon and started drawing the body of her wizard. She gave him a tan jumpsuit and an indigo cape and witch's hat.

"What are you drawing?" Kari leaned over to look at what Yume was coloring. "He looks good."

"Thanks," said Yume. She got out a brown crayon and started giving Merlin gloves. For his staff, she grabbed an orange crayon and made a sun on the top. She then started on the face. She gave him straw colored hair and purple eyes, but when she came to the mouth and nose, she drew a scarf over those features. "What do you think?" She turned the sketchbook so Kari could see.

"He looks more like a scarecrow than a wizard," Kari said.

Yume giggled. "He does, doesn't he? I think it's the hair. I should have done it first. Yellow doesn't show up that well over darker colors."

The girls went back to watching television. It was a comedy show that Yume didn't really care for. She listened, but went back to drawing. She began adding Merlin's friend, but this time the cat was white and purple like the cat they saw in the park. A little while later, the news cut in for a special report. There had been more monster sightings and this time there had been a battle at Tokyo Tower. The tower looked melted and was leaning over.

"While the clash of the monsters caused extensive damage to the tower, no casualties were reported. But fear is in the air and there is a general people of public unrest. Now back to our regular programming."

Yume heard a little gasp behind her. She and Kari turned around to see the white cat on the back of the sofa.

"Hi!" Kari said cheerfully.

The cat froze, staring at Kari.

Kari held her hands out to the cat to get her to come to her. "Come here."

The cat pulled back and fell off the sofa.

Yume jumped on her knees and looked over the back of the sofa. "Is she okay?"

The cat sat up and shook her head. She then got up and walked to the door.

"Are you going already?" Kari asked, following.

The cat looked over her shoulder.

"But you'll come back again, right?" Kari went on.

The cat ran out the door.

"Oh," Kari groaned in disappointment.

Yume looked at the open door like the cat would come back any second. "I think she's a Digimon."

"Me, too," said Kari. "But why did she run away?"

Yume shrugged. "Maybe she was scared of us."

"But we're not scary," said Kari.

"Maybe to her we are."

Yume went back to her drawing, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen.


For those of you keeping up with where these chapters happen in the series, we just got through "Gatomon Comes Calling" and the next episode to be covered will be "The Eight Child Revealed". Unfortunately, I don't know if there's going to be a chapter next month. I'm in the process to reorganizing my fanfiction schedule. If you would like more information, I keep a news section on my profile page of what's being worked on, what's on hold, and what's coming soon. I'll be updating that in a few days.