"Thanks for having me over, Miss Toriya."

"It was nothing. I should be thanking you for offering to keep Daiki company," Nelia said, waving her hand. "Even though he's asleep right now."

Mikami smiled. "He's had it rough this week. I think he's earned it."

"Isn't that the truth," Nelia mumbled. She sipped her tea. "You should've seen me when he called after Sandiramon showed up. I was beyond frantic. Then I nearly had a panic attack when the hospital called."

"I know how you feel. You can guess how I felt when I got the call to go to the hospital."

Nelia's jaw went slack, knowing what Mikami meant. She placed her cup down and looked at the girl, uncertain as to what to do or say. It was pure luck that Renamon walked into the kitchen at that moment. Nelia stood, leaving her chair out, and smiled.

"I'll be upstairs checking on Daiki if you need me."

"Alright."

Renamon watched the woman walk out and then looked at Mikami, sitting down in the unoccupied chair.

"Can I speak with you?"

The serious tone of Renamon's voice caught Mikami's attention. Whatever it was that the fox wanted to tell her, it had to be important.

"Yeah, sure."

"After the fight with Sandiramon, Daiki and I were taken to the hospital by a man."

Mikami raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Renamon took in a breath and began recounting her conversation with the man. From the way he was unaffected by the sight of a Digimon to how he had been nearby when they fight had ended. Mikami became more intrigued by the second, wondering who the man could have been. When Renamon stated that the man seemed to know about Digimon and said he knew who the others were, Mikami sat back and folded her arms.

"Another person who knows about Digimon," she mumbled. "Did he tell you his name?"

"He called himself Ryu."

Mikami's eyes widened. "Did he give you a last name?"

"No. Why?"

Pursing her lips, Mikami shook her head. For all she knew, the man was no one she personally knew, but there was always the chance that it could be. She opened her mouth to tell Renamon when her phone interrupted her. Sighing, she dug her hand into her pocket and pulled the phone out. Seeing that it was Yoko who was calling, she answered.

"Need something?"

"No. I was just wondering if you wanted to come to the mall with me."

"Sorry, Yoko, I can't. I'm, uh, in the middle of something right now."

"Are you okay? You sound a bit…off."

"I'm fine, Yoko. Go have some fun. We can hang out some other time."

"Oh. Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and glanced out the window, biting her lip. If the man was who she thought it was, how could she prove it? Demanding answers from him probably wasn't the right way to go about it, but the only thing she could think to do was call him and request that the two talk.

Renamon placed her paw to her mouth and cleared her throat.

"What were you going to say?"

"I think I might know Ryu."

~0~

Yoko stood waiting outside the mall doors, rocking back and forth on her heels. After her call to Mikami, she decided to ask Judai, who agreed to spend the day with her. Now she and her dad were waiting for Judai and his mom. She was hoping that a shopping trip might ease her mind by distracting her from the events of the past few days. Her brief talk with Mikami had her worried as well, as Mikami had sounded concerned.

A tap on her shoulder made her look up at her dad. He pointed at the parking lot to where two people were walking towards them. Once she saw who it was, she waved.

"Hey!" He said, stopping in front of her. "So, what're we doing?"

"Shopping! I thought it'd be nice to go look around the game shop and see if we could find some games we could play together."

He grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

They went around the mall for over an hour, spending most of that time in game store before wandering around. By the time they stopped to get a bite to eat, the two each had a bag of items bought from various stores. After ordering food, they sat down at a table separate from their parents and started chatting. Despite the fact that Yoko tried to keep a smile on her face, Judai could tell something was on her mind.

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

Sagging in her seat, Yoko sighed. "I'm a little worried, that's all. Before I called you, I called Mikami. She sounded like something was bothering her."

"I'm sure that if anything serious was going on, she'd tell us," he said. "Besides, with Daiki hurt, she's probably feeling a bit anxious."

"True, but she has kept stuff from us before."

"Okay, I'll give you that one. Still, if she thought we should know, I think she'd let us in on whatever it was." He took a bite of his burger. "Anything else bothering you?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

He swallowed and looked at her with a sheepish smile. "Seriously, though, anything else?"

"Well, I've been thinking about the Digital World. How things are going, whether everyone we left behind is okay, and what it's going to be like when we go back. A day here was a month there, so it's already been a few months there. What if it takes twice as long to get back there? What if everything is different? What about our friends?"

Judai wasn't sure what to say in response. She felt bad for unloading her worries onto him the way she did, even if she did need to get her thoughts off her chest. The two finished their food in silence. With Judai and his mother having to leave, Yoko decided there was in point in staying and informed her dad. They walked outside with the departing and prepared to say their goodbyes when Judai stopped to look at Yoko.

"Everything will work out, okay? So stop worrying."

Yoko grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into a hug. Blushing, he mumbled when he pulled away and hurried off with a quick farewell.

"Ready to go home?" Hurren asked.

Smiling, Yoko nodded.