Takato and troop entered the cave in after two hours. Juri hugged Ruki as soon as she entered. Takato fist-bumped Jian and Ryo, then gave Kenta a light thump on his back. Mako hugged his sister while Impmon (he de-digivolved) smiled from beside him. Shaochung also hugged her friend then leaned in to whisper into her ear. "What was it like being on the same team as my brother?" Ai blushed at the comment. Her crush on Jian was only known to Shaochung and Mako.
"I-it was amazing to watch him at work. He was so focused on it that he was almost lost to the world," said Ai, dreamily. Shaochung and Mako sweat dropped. 'Basically nothing happened between these two huh?' they thought in unison.
"Guys, aren't we missing someone?" asked Jian.
"Yeah! Where are Hirokazu and Guardromon?" asked Kenta, unable to spot his best friend. The tamers looked at each other uncomfortably. "Actually..." started Takato. He told them how they lost sight of the said two and Beelzemon's response. When he was done, Kenta yelled, "You guys should have gone looking for him! What if something happens to him?"
"But Hirokazu's not weak... He has Guardromon and Culumon with him..." started Juri softly.
"That doesn't mean you just leave him behind!" cried Kenta.
"We wanted to look for him but..."started Takato but Ruki cut him off.
"I agree with Kenta. Hirokazu's not strong. Guardromon can't even digivolve! If they are attacked by even champion, they'll be in trouble." At this Ryo's eyes widened a bit. "Knowing him, he probably got lost while you guys were heading here."
"We'll have to look for him. Where was the last place you saw him?" asked Jian.
"Um... the place where we fought the Sinduramon," answered Takato.
"Then a few of us should go look for him. So, who wants to go?" asked Ruki, looking around.
"Takato and I will go," said Ryo, standing up. "The rest of you can exchange information."
"Alright then, we'll leave it to you guys," said Kenta.
"Stay safe Takato. You, too Ryo," said Juri.
With that the two tamers left the cave with their digimon. Once they were quite a distance away from the cave, Ryo stopped Takato.
"What's wrong, Ryo?" asked the goggle-head tamer.
"Takato, do you really think Hirokazu got lost?" The older tamer's question caught Takato off guard.
"I guess it is a possibility," he answered hesitantly. "Why do you ask?"
"No, I just feel that might not be the case. Like Beelzemon told you, perhaps he really did need to sometime for himself. If so, I'm sure he's bound to catch up with us," asserted Ryo.
"So you're saying we shouldn't search for him?" asked Takato in confusion.
"No, I'm not saying that. Just that we shouldn't panic over him. He is definitely capable of taking care of himself. Not to mention Culumon's with him. There's a high possibility that Guardromon will be able to digivolve as well."
"You seem really confident about Hirokazu. Is it because you've been mentoring him?" asked Takato.
Ryo smiled. "Well there's that and also something that someone said that's been bugging me." Takato raised an eyebrow. When Ryo didn't continue after a while, he blinked in bewilderment. In the background, Guilmon and Cyberdramon stood watching the tamers.
"Hey, Cyberdramon. What does Ryo mean?" asked the little red dinosaur. Cyberdramon merely grunted. "Guess you won't tell me anything. I wish Terriermon was here..."
Ryo shook his head. "It's nothing," he said before walking ahead. Knowing there was no point in pushing him further, Takato continued guiding him to the valley. The two boys wandered in search of any traces of their friend. Suddenly Guilmon stopped and sniffed the air. "Takato, I can smell something burning."
"What?" asked Takato, looking around.
"Takato, over there! There's smoke coming from there!" said Ryo as he pointed in the direction of a cloud of dark rings.
"Maybe that's Hirokazu camping?" guessed Takato.
"We'll know when we get there," stated Ryo. They headed in the direction of the smoke.
"It'll get dark soon. Let's camp here for the evening, Guardromon," said Hirokazu.
"Aye, aye captain!" replied his partner. Together they went about setting up a campfire. Culumon helped gather little twigs, Guardomon helped lit the fire while Hirokazu set up his sleeping bags and pulled out a few snacks he had with him. He opened a packet of chips and offered them to the two digimon.
"I wonder if this is how Ryo camped when he stayed in the digital world for that one year. It's kind of thrilling and scary at the same time. F it was me when I first came here with the others, I would have definitely been too scared to do something like this, haha..."
"I guess. But Hirokazu, you've grown up since then!" assured Guardromon.
"Of course! I can't always be that naive kid ya know!" The two laughed.
"Even so, I'm not strong enough to help you digivolve, after all these years..."
"Hirokazu..."
"Takato and the others can go mega with their partners easily whereas I
can't help you Matrix digivolve..."
"Hirokazu, don't worry! I'm sure you can help Guardromon digivolve to ultimate," cheered Culumon.
"When, Culumon? When?" asked Hirokazu, impatience in his voice.
"That..."
"Hirokazu, I will digivolve when the time is right. Don't compare yourself to others. You have your own pace to do things. If you're impatient then things won't work out," said Guardromon.
"I know... It's just... I've had enough of being useless..."
"You're not useless, Hirokazu!" reprimanded Culumon. Even when angered he looked cute. "You have many good sides to you!"
"Like?"
"Like...like that time you and Kenta helped save those cops from ADR-07! Or when you helped fend off the Parasimon! You aren't useless at all Hirokazu!"
Hirokazu smiled a bitter smile. "Thanks, Culumon. I know my power is nowhere near the others but I won't give up! Let's become stronger so we don't hold back the others!"
"Yeah!" cheered Guardromon. Together, they were all about to sleep when they heard a rustle from behind them.
"Who's there?" called out Hirokazu. From among the bushes emerged...
A/N: Sorry for not posting in a long time! Been caught in a lot of things. Will try and upload as often as I can!